Dark Heroes
by Lady Alabaster
Summary: Dumbledore devises a plan to save Harry from Voldemort's evil plans. It includes getting him as far away from Hogwarts as possible. Who should acompany him on this journey? none other than our favorite blonde. PreHBP, slash, vampires, full summary inside.
1. Prologue

yeah, this is a different prologue, but the one i wrote before was missing a few things. i wrote it 2 years ago and i never re-read it so... i decided to redo the whole prologue. Dont worry though,it wont change the rest of the story. It's just that this prologue has a bit about the visions in it. OK so lets go:

* * *

"Close your eyes."

She did. At first, nothing happened; she just saw little pinpricks of red in the darkness.

Then came the light.

It was like an exploding rainbow of color. First a band of red that turned to orange and yellow, then it faded to a vibrant green which morphed to sky blue and a deep violet. The erupting bubble of color only lasted a second and then faded to a blinding whiteness that seemed to oppress her from all sides. She lost the air in her lungs and staggered a little but strong arms were holding her still.

She could hear a whispered spell like an echo from far away even though she knew that he was right behind her. But this was her vision, not his. She couldn't take others along for the ride. He may have been close by her but she was miles away.

Then the flood came.

First she saw a boy. She could not tell what he looked like because the vision was very blurry. She could see certain parts in perfect clarity however. The boy's hair, for example, was almost white. She could see every singe individual strand moving gently in the breeze. It smelled like autumn, the raw smell of rotting leaves as the last rays of sunlight left for the day. The boy's eyes were closed and he looked pensive, as if evaluating a decision he had just made. The rest was a hybrid of mixed colors, too distorted to see. Along with every flash or vision came unknown feelings. Here, she felt a mixture of happiness and completion, as if a great task had been finished. _Did I make the right decision?_

There was complete silence. A silence so loud she wanted to scream just to disturb it. Then came the rush of sound, like the crashing of water as it fell over rocks. It was a startling contrast to the silence and she gasped with the force of it.

The image faded and was replaced by another boy. _No, not a boy, a man,_ she corrected herself. The look in his eyes was of wisdom and experience, and a great sadness. She was instantly intrigued and wanted to know why. _Why does he cry?_ The focus was his eyes and mouth, which moved slowly to form incomprehensible words. But the feelings she got from seeing him were of pain and suffering. _What can I do to make it stop? _she asked herself. _Nothing. _The sound of crashing water ended and was yet again replaced with the screaming silence.

The next flash was clearer and more in focus, it was of a man in black. He walked past and it seemed like he left a bit of himself behind. It was the way his waist length hair was blowing in the wind and his long black cloak was trailing behind him like a slate-black cloud of doom. She heard the rustle of fabric as he walked past amplified by a hundred times, and she gasped again with the force of the sound and noted to herself to be prepared next time. The man was walking fast, as if in a hurry to get somewhere. With him came the feeling of excited tension, as if he brought news that was long awaited. _What will he say?_

The next vision was almost too blurry to see. She could hardly make out the different colors, but she could see red. Red was on the ground, seeping down like thick honey. Everything else was the perfect darkness; like a bottomless pit that holds unknown monsters. She could not see, but she could feel. She felt her hands plunge into the red and come out warm and sticky, she spread her fingers wide and felt the liquid stretch. All that was left was the screaming. It was in her head and it would not die. _What have I done?_ A feeling of horror came over her and she felt like she would throw up. It was blood, she could tell.

The next vision was the opposite of the one that she just experienced. It was of serenity and solace. It was almost perfectly clear. She could see the falling sun setting over the reflecting water and speckling it with chippets of gold. The docks by the water held a small canoe and a boy sitting with his legs dangling over the side as he leaned back on his hands. His black hair had flecks of gold and yellow reflections of the sun. He was joined by a tall man with long black hair. He sat down beside the boy and they began to talk. _What are we doing here?_ She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of birds in the trees.

She opened them and was greeted by a new vision, that of happiness and joy. It was a baby girl cuddled in the arms of her father. She was laughing at a story he had told and the look on his face was that of fascination. _She is my hope._ The sound of laughter still rung in her ears as she was hurled into a new vision.

This one was of the boy, the boy from the docks. She could tell by his hair. She looked into emerald green orbs and a small smile played on his lips. _Catch me if you can._ Wicked.

**T.T.T**

Harry Potter had finally finished the list of chores that Aunt Petunia had set him that afternoon. He was tired and sweaty from the manual labour and the heat, so he decided to cool himself off by sneaking ice cubes out of the freezer and making freezies outside on the lawn. He made sure that Aunt Petunia would not be able to find him if she tried to give him more chores so he went to his usual hiding spot by the fence. It was perfect because he could see everything that happened in the street and no one could see him because of the rose bush that hid him from view.

He took the fork that he had sneaked out of the kitchen and began to crush the ice with the pointed ends, taking out all of his frustration on the cubes. He was incredibly angry at Dumbledore for keeping secrets from him and at everyone else for not writing proper letters. He understood that they weren't allowed to write things in case they got intercepted but they could at least drop a few hints about how things were going at HQ.

So far all he got was 'It's all the same here. Hope to see you soon.' which he thought hardly qualified as a letter. Harry looked down at his cup of crushed ice and began to suck on a few of the bigger chunks. He leaned back against the fence and looked up at the sky.

It was an unusually hot summer. The residents of Privet Drive were all indoors for the lack of shade and the once green laws were nothing more than dried grass and moss. Harry grabbed a fistful of grass and pulled it out by the roots. He stared at the tiny little four-leaf clover that was clutched in his hand, and thought ironically of what he could wish for.

His first wish would be that Sirius would not be dead. He had gone over the tragic death of his godfather in his head a hundred times. He knew that it caused some kind of permanent psychological problems to do this but he couldn't help feeling that it was all his fault. _Sirius would have wanted me to live on. _Harry thought savagely. So he quickly diverted his attentions to other things.

It was this summer that they would be getting their OWL's and Harry for one, was very nervous. He knew that Hermione was probably freaking out at the prospect of getting her results back and the thought brought a smile to his lips. The summer was total crap and it was nice to have something happy to think about.

Harry lay down on the grass under the rose bush and watched the clouds go by. It wasn't everyday that he could just lie here and appreciate nature. The Dursley's didn't give him the chance. Petunia probably thought that if she gave him enough chores it would make him less magical. _Well, sorry, Auntie,_ Harry thought sarcastically, _no such luck_.

Harry closed his eyes for a second and let them rest from the glare of the burning sun. He saw the imprint of the round blurry circle in the darkness behind his lids. He smiled and turned his head, only two more weeks until he got to go back to Hogwarts.

And with this thought he fell into a gentle slumber.

**T.T.T**

Charlie watched as the boy fell asleep under the rose bushes. She was perched in a tree, watching for any sign of her quarry. She had searched for the better part of the summer looking for the boy in her visions, and she had finally found him.

He looked a bit like a fallen savior. He had the grunge-misunderstood-sulky teenager look down pat. He wore ragged jeans and a white tank top accompanied by scuffed shoes and his hair had the I-just-got-out-of-bed-with-your-girlfriend look.

Charlie jumped out of the tree and landed on all fours on the pavement. She straightened up and scowled at the thought of Lucius seeing her now. How he would laugh! _Hiding in trees now? What the bloody hell are you, a wood nymph? _Charlotte Phoenix was _not_ a wood nymph, thankyouverymuch. She just couldn't find any other way of keeping watch over the Raven boy without being seen.

She walked over to the rosebush with its occupant and stared down at the boy in the grass. She folded her knee length black and purple skirt under her and sat down like a princess in the grass beside the boy. She got out a clipboard from the messenger bag she carried everywhere and a piece of coal pencil.

She then proceeded to unzip her knee high black boots and placed them beside her on the grass. There was no use in wearing them in this heat. Her calves were already covered in a thin layer of sweat.

She watched the rise and fall of the Raven boy's chest and then began to draw…

* * *

TBC of course. tell me your thoughts. 


	2. Chapter 1 Ashes

(I forgot the disclaimer last chapter so here's one for the whole story: I don not own Harry Potter or anything you recognize as written by JK Rowling, Charlie is mine and if you want to borrow her you have to ask.)

Chapter 1- Ashes

Harry rolled over onto his stomach and heard a crumpling sound like paper being stepped on. He was completely lost for a minute, trying to remember where he was and why he smelled grass and dirt. He slowly sat up, his eyes still closed. The sun was still very bright and he didn't want to be temporarily blind so he opened his eyes very slowly. When he regained his senses he looked around for the source of the crumpling sound. He found it almost immediately. It was a piece of rough drawing paper, completely blank. Harry crinkled his nose and put the paper on the grass where he found it. Maybe someone left it there, or it drifted in the wind. Whatever.

Harry got up and walked into the house. Time to go scavenging for food. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and he was hungry. He found bread in the pantry and made himself a cheese sandwich with orange juice. It was only five in the afternoon and he had nothing to do.

He put his hands down flat on the table and thought hard. What else could I possibly do? He held his hands up to his face and noticed dark smudges on his fingertips. He looked down on the table and saw, where his hands where earlier, eight dark circles.

Harry tried to think where the smudges came from, maybe the dirt outside, or something in the house. No, that was impossible, the Dursley house was perfectly clean, thanks to Petunia's valiant efforts.

Harry tried to think of everything that he did that day, reliving everything in his mind. Then it came to him. The paper that he found! There must have been something written on the other side. Maybe something from the order!

He ran outside to find the paper exactly as he had left it. He picked it up and turned it over. He was right, there was something there, but it wasn't writing. It was a perfect portrait of him sleeping on the lawn with the word Raven written across the top of the page. And lower down a tombstone with 'Here lies Lily and James Potter, loved by all' written on it. Harry looked for a signature and found a tiny squiggle in the right hand corner. He took it up to his room to look at the signature more closely.

He ran up to his room, taking the stairs two at a time. He sat at the desk and turned on the lamp to see better. He remembered an old magnifying glass of Dudley's was in one of the many boxes in his room. He quickly found it and looked more closely at the signature. It looked like Charles or Charlie. He couldn't tell.

Harry put the picture down and went to his bed. It completely creeped him out that some guy was drawing him when he was sleeping, and how did this man know about his parents? What if it was a death eater? No, it couldn't be. A death eater would have killed him, not drawn him.

Harry fell into a restless sleep, tossing and turning all night. Dreaming of a strange man whose face could not be seen. He woke up in a cold sweat. This was not good. This picture was bothering him more than some of Voldemort's dreams. Maybe he should tell Dumbledore about it. Naw, it was useless bothering him about a stupid picture. Then Harry remembered that he said that anything, big or small, should be reported immediately.

So Harry sat down at his desk and found a spare piece of parchment. It had been two day's since his last letter, but oh well. This was important. After several tries of writing the letter so that the picture wouldn't be that important he finally succeeded.

He tied the letter to Hedwig, who came in sometime during the night, and sent her off. He went back to his bed and sat down. There was something bothering him but he didn't know what it was. There was the picture, of course, but something else was making him itch. He went back to the desk and looked down at the drawing.

'Here lies Lily and James Potter. Loved by all.' He whispered softly. How did the man know who his parents are? He walked back and forth between the door and the desk in the other end of the room, picture in hand.

He had always wondered what had happened to his parents. Was there a funeral? Did they get a service or a memorial? Were they cremated?

No, He was pretty sure they were not cremated, and they got a proper funeral but did he know where? Nope. Could he find out? That he could do. All he had to do was go down to the city and get their death certificates. That would tell him where his parents were buried.

He got a couple of pounds out of the money jar on top of the fridge and went to the nearest bus stop, which was down the street. He got there ten minutes later and sat down on the bench beside an old grandmother with blue hair.

The bus got there two minutes later. He put the right amount of money in the machine and a ticket popped out of the slot in the side. He took it and shoved it in his pocket without reading the time he had left. When he finally got to the city he had to ask three people how to get to the record bureau.

He walked through the glass double doors into a small waiting room. The walls were a light blue with paintings of sunsets, obviously to soothe the people in the building. There was a secretary at a desk in a corner. He went to her, noticing the nameplate that said Ms. Ronaldo on it.

'Excuse me ma'am, I'm looking for the death certificate of Lily or James Potter. I was wondering of you could help me?' Harry said in his best polite voice. 'Certainly, if you are a direct descendant of the deceased, of course.' She said in a sugary voice.

'Yeah, I'm their son.' Harry said. 'Alright, Can I see a proof of ID please?' She said, pulling out a piece of paper. Harry got out a random card with his name on it. 'Would this work?' He asked. She looked at the name and said 'Yes, it will. Now all you have to do is sign here and I will go get the papers.' She gave him the paper that she pulled out earlier. It had a short paragraph about liability and then a signature at the bottom. He saw the line with a red X that the secretary had made. Idiot-proof, he thought comically. He took the pen she handed him and signed his name at the bottom of the line.

'Alrighty then. That's in order. Just wait a minute; I'll go get the papers.' She said and got up to go through the light blue door beside her desk. Harry took a seat in one of the comfy chairs by the secretary's desk and took a magazine from one of the little tables. In a short while Ms. Ronaldo came back with a clipboard in hand. She took a seat and Harry put the magazine down and came up to her desk again.

"It seems that your parents were buried in a cemetery in Godric's Hollow. That's a long way from here but you can take the bus and get there before nightfall if you want.' She said to Harry. 'Thank you very much. This really helps.' He gave her his best smile and turned to go.

He turned around with a new mission: Godric's Hollow. He got on the northbound bus and took it until he saw a stretch of land with monuments and tombstones scattered about. He pulled the Stop Requested string and waited to be let off. He walked up to the small house that was beside the entry way. He went inside and was promptly shown where to go. He also bought a small bouquet of flowers for his parents' grave.

He followed the instructions given to him and easily found his parents grave. There it was, exactly as it was in the drawing, 'Here lies Lily and James Potter, loved by all.' He put the bouquet of flowers at the base of their tombstone and sat down in the tall grass, noticing the silence all around him. How did the artist know how the graves looked like? He was so involved in his thinking that he didn't even notice the strange girl that had come up to him. Harry finally looked up when the girl stood right in front of him.

She was the strangest girl Harry had ever seen, she was wearing a black shirt with 'live every life like it's your last' written on it, and a neon green ruffled skirt, and the most scuffed converse shoes he had ever seen. Her eyes were so red Harry thought she might be related to Voldemort, but then noticed the Malfoy blonde hair. It was cut shoulder length, and parts of it were braided.

She was standing right in front of his parents' grave, looking down at it sadly. She turned to him and smiled. 'There's no one there.' She said. 'What?' He said, getting up from the grass to stand a few inches taller than the girl. 'There's no one there.' She repeated herself. 'What do you mean, there's no one there?' he said. 'It's an empty grave, there's no one inside.' She stated matter of factly.

'Of course there's some one inside, they're dead, sure, but they're there.' He said. Maybe this girl was crazy, how can there no be anyone inside the grave? And how did she know that there was nobody inside the grave? 'I'm not crazy.' She said, as thought reading his mind.

'Right. OK.' Harry said cautiously. This wasn't good; he had to get out of here. The girl had done absolutely nothing to harm him but she seemed really odd. Like a pulsing aura of weirdness was coming off her. She turned to look at the grave again. 'Let me explain, there is no one in this grave. I can feel the dead but there is absolutely nothing in the ground under us. Whoever these people were, they were not laid to rest here.' She said in an amazingly calm voice, as if she had explained this a hundred times.

'Then why do the records say that they were buried here?' Harry asked. Just keep her talking, and get away, he thought.

'The records are wrong.' She simply said. She looked him straight in the eye. 'I'm not lying. There are empty coffins in the ground. That can only mean a few things. They were grave robbed, which I doubt, or they're not dead.'

'Not dead?" Harry whispered. It was impossible, preposterous, but Harry had always had that bit of hope that somehow his parents were not dead. 'No.' he said. Shaking away the thought. 'Stop it.' He said angrily.

'I'm not lying.' She whispered. She looked at the grave again. 'I have to go.' She suddenly said. 'Good bye, Raven.' She turned to leave when Harry realized what she had said. 'Wait!' He yelled, but she somehow had gotten to the other side of the long graveyard in the blink of an eye. She turned and looked at him. 'I'm not lying!' She yelled back. And then all of a sudden she was gone.

Harry stared at the place where she had stood moments ago. Raven. She had called him Raven. Like the name written on the drawing he had found yesterday afternoon. So she was the mystery artist. It wasn't some strange man. It was an even stranger girl.

Charles didn't work, that was a name for a male. Charlie was also a male name but it could have been a shortened version of Charlotte. Well, Charlie suited the girl. She was really pretty once you got over the bright colors she wore. But who was she? How did she know his parents? And was what she had said true? Was there nobody in the coffins below his feet? Where his parents truly dead? This was too confusing. Harry decided to head home and work it all out on the bus.

TBC


	3. Chapter 2 Instigation part I

(AN: Yay! I got a review. Thank you Nulla. At least someone likes my story. It's really hard to start the plot but I'm attempting to make it funny. In fact I'm very proud of chapter 4.)

Chapter 2 - Instigation Part I

Harry got home at midnight. This isn't good, he thought. The door will probably be locked by now. The Dursley's have made it quite clear to him that anytime after Dudley got home was completely inexcusable.

"Shit." Harry said as he tried the doorknob. It was locked. How am I supposed to get into the bloody house, he thought angrily. He walked into the garden and stared up at his window. It wasn't locked he thought hopefully. But there was no way up the side of the wall. He looked around desperately. The shed was close but he wouldn't reach the window from there either. Unless….

Harry got the stool from the garden that he usually sat on while weeding the plants. He threw the stool up on the shed roof and proceeded to climb onto the roof himself.

He climbed onto the stool and could almost reach his window. He got the window open a few inches when a SWOOSH sound came from behind him. He turned so fast that the stool gave a hearty wobble and he ungracefully fell to the ground, except instead of painfully landing on the hard soil he landed in an enormous yet comfy pillow.

He rolled off the pillow and immediately drew his wand. He pointed it in the direction from which the SWOOSH came from. He stood in a fighting stance for ten seconds when he heard chuckling from behind him and a hand on his shoulder. Harry spun around, a hex on his lips, to look directly into the white beard of his headmaster.

He gave a relieved sigh and put his wand away. Albus Dumbledore smiled his usual cryptic smile and folded his hands across his chest. He was wearing a long purple robe with stars sewn in and a wizards' hat sat merrily on the aged man's head. Albus Dumbledore was the epitome of what a muggle would imagine a wizard would look like.

"Hello Harry." He said joyfully. "It seemed like you needed a bit of help." He looked at the stool which was lying pitifully on the ground beside the shed. The pillow was gone.

"Yeah. I took a while getting home and the Dursley's must have fallen asleep thinking I was already home." Harry lied. He thought that the headmaster already had too much on his mind, he didn't need to be bothered by his trivial problems.

"Hmmm. I was wondering why you were trying to get through your own window." Dumbledore said, walking to the front door. With a tap of his wand the door opened and both wizards went into number four privet drive. The room was dark and dreary looking. Everything was spotless, as usual, but the darkness seemed to make everything more… forbidding.

The wizards quietly made it up the stairs into Harry's room. With a swish of his wand Dumbledore had everything in Harry's trunk. Another flick and the trunk shrunk to fit into the size of his hand. Harry let Hedwig out of her cage and Dumbledore shrunk that as well. Harry grabbed the little trunk and the cage and the wizards walked into the spotless kitchen. Dumbledore put a letter on the breakfast table and then made his way out of the house.

"Professor, where are we going?" Harry asked the moment they got outside, he didn't want to go to Grimmauld place, the memories of his dead godfather still fresh in his mind.

"We are going to the Misty Inn; it is located near Diagon Alley. I don't want to draw too much attention to you so you cannot stay in the Leaky Cauldron. In a few days time I will send appropriate transportation to take you to King's Cross. From there you will be taking the Hogwarts Express." Dumbledore explained.

"But professor, why am I going to Hogwarts? School doesn't start for another month and a half." Harry asked. He was beginning to get a bit suspicious. What if this wasn't really Dumbledore but some Death Eater in disguise?

"I will explain everything to you when you get to Hogwarts and the other party has arrived. It would be much more logical if I explain it to the both if you at the same time." Dumbledore said.

This was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. They were already on Magnolia Street but they kept walking. "Ummm… Professor? How do I know you are truly who you tell me you are?" Harry asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Dumbledore smiled. "I'm glad that you asked Harry. It is good to be cautious at times like these. In answer to your question, last year I told you of the prophesy. The prophesy that says only one, you or Voldemort, will be able to survive on this earth. Is that proof enough Harry?" Harry just looked at him. The prophesy. He had been trying to forget about it but it always came back to haunt him. He would either have to be a murderer or be murdered. "Yes, that's proof enough." Harry said in a small voice.

Dumbledore saw the obvious distress on the younger boys' face and said, "For future reference, my favorite type of jam is raspberry." This brought a smile to the emerald eyed youth.

They had walked up Tulip Avenue into a small parking lot filled with rusty old cars. Dumbledore walked up to a gray Honda and got out the car keys. "We're driving?" Harry said, amazed to find out that his Headmaster could drive a car.

"Yes Harry. The Ministry has been breathing down our backs. They're watching the Floo network and making an unauthorized portkey would not be healthy for me right now. Cornelius has acknowledged the fact that the dark lord has risen but he still holds me in low esteem." Dumbledore said, a sad expression on his face. "Although it has been reported that Fudge will not stay in office for much longer. It seems that the people do not want a corrupt Minister."

"Finally." Harry said. He had only met Fudge on a number of occasions but in the last year he had denied all reports that Voldemort had risen, therefore making Harry's, and Dumbledore's lives miserable.

The ride to London was spent quietly talking about inconsequential things. Dumbledore told Harry about what the order was doing, and Harry told Dumbledore about his very boring summer.

Just as Dumbledore was telling Harry a story about a goblin he once met on a mission, Harry remembered about the drawing and the strage girl he had met at the cemetery, the arrival of his Headmaster completely erasing the memory from his mind.

"Professor?" Harry interrupted. The memory was like a dream, slipping away as if it never happened. He wanted to tell Dumbledore before he forgot it entirely. "Yesterday I woke up from a nap on the front lawn and found a drawing of myself lying on the ground. It said Raven on it and there was a small sketch of my parents' graves. There was a scribbled signature in the corner but it was very hard to make out. I think it said Charlie or Charles. I was really curious about my parents so I went on a search to find their grave. I found it and there was a girl there. She was the girl who drew the picture. Her name was Charlie and she was really odd. She kept on rambling about dead people, it was all very confusing." The memory of the girl was a bit hazy. It only happened a day ago but it felt like years had passed. He couldn't even remember how the girl looked like anymore. He remembered the topic of conversation was odd but he couldn't for the life of him remember what the girl had said.

Dumbledore wrinkled his brow. "When did this happen?" he asked. "Yesterday afternoon." Harry replied. "You sound as if you don't remember it very well." Dumbledore mused, his curiosity peaked. "I know. It feels like it happened a long time ago." Harry said.

This wasn't the first time Dumbledore had heard of a mysterious woman named Charlie. Once, a long time ago, his brother had told him of a very strange girl who had helped him with a task he had to do. But, he too, hardly remembered her. At the time Albus had thought that the girl was a figment of Aberforth's imagination. But then, Minerva told him of a similar person helping her with her marking one evening. This was a few years later and it took a while for the aged wizard to connect the two incidents, but he soon did and wondered who this puzzling woman was. And now, years later, Harry tells him of the same girl. How she could stay young was a mystery on its own, as everyone describes her as very youthful. Maybe she was a spirit who came to those in need. But so far she hadn't done anything remotely useful.

"It's probably nothing Harry, just someone with too much spare time on their hands." Dumbledore said. No need to worry the boy, he thought anxiously.

Charlie definitely had too much spare time on her hands. She was currently cruising the Californian coast, Santa Maria, to be exact, looking for something to do. The Raven boy obviously had a very closed mind, she thought, and she wasn't even lying! Not that I always lie, of course, but I do tend to stretch the truth. It was very odd. There was absolutely nobody in those graves. I will have to go back there and search them someday. But that would come later. Right now I want to relax.

She parked her car next to a promising spot by the beach and took out her towel and a paperback. She sauntered across the beach, strutting in front if a very promising Latino boy with blonde hair. He looked up in interest and watched as the bikini clad girl spread out her towel in the sand and lay down with a content sigh.

He blonde took out a pack of cards and walked over to the girl. "Hello, my name's Angelo. Would you like to play cards?" He said with a sexy Mexican accent. His friends always told him to be more up front. He was usually very shy, but something about this girl made him relax. She was just… approachable.

"Sure! My name's Charlie by the way. Do you like Crazy Eights?" She asked. Sitting up and putting away the paperback. She needed something to get her mind off of the troubled Raven boy she had met the day before.

TBC

Teaser for next chapter: He sprang up from the seat and stared at the blonde, who was laughing like a hyena. "You should have seen the look on your face!" He said between gasps for air. He sat down on the seat that Harry had moments ago abandoned.


	4. Chapter 3 Instigation part II

(OK! Here it is! To my wonderful reviewers: Many thanks. Eve, the Draco/Harry action may take a few chapters, I'm trying to create a relationship between the two boy's, the thing I hate most about Draco/Harry fics is that they just magically end up together… I'm not like that. OK so read on…)

Chapter 3 – Instigation part II

Harry was sound asleep in a luxurious bed. It has been two days since Dumbledore left him in the Misty Inn. He had left the very same night for what he called 'the other party'. Harry was confused but that happened frequently with Dumbledore.

He was jerked awake by the sound of the knock on the door. Rolling out of bed Harry walked groggily to the door. Opening it revealed a man dressed in a black tux and a walrus mustache. He looked like a limo driver Harry had seen on TV.

"Good morning Mr. Potter. I am Edward, you driver. If you would please get dressed and follow me, we should be on our way shortly." He said. Ha! I was right, Harry thought triumphantly, he was a driver. This must be the 'appropriate transportation' that Dumbledore was talking about.

"Yeah… umm… just a sec." Harry said, the remnants of sleep still in his voice. He pulled on a clean T-shirt and a pair of old jeans and walked out the door. Edward the driver took his trunk and they walked out into the blazing heat of an English summer.

Harry got into the back of the black Bentley and soon they were off. How Dumbledore had managed to afford such extravagant transportation was beyond Harry. Who knows, the man could be a secret millionaire.

Within an hour they pulled into Kings Cross Station. Edward got out his trunk and put it on a trolley. "I trust you know where to go?" he asked. Harry nodded and Edward got into his black car and drove off.

It was ten thirty. Still another half hour till the train departed. Harry went into the station and walked over to the concession. He still had some left over money from the handful he got out of the jar at the Dursley's.

He bought himself a drink and a salad and ate quietly at one of the tables. With ten minutes to go Harry got his trunk and walked over to platform nine and three quarters. He walked through without any trouble, remembering fondly the time Dobby sealed the entrance so him and Ron had to fly in the Ford Anglia.

The red train looked very different when it was not surrounded by hordes of children. There was only a pair of women there. They were conversing animatedly and took no notice of him. Harry extended the courtesy and heaved his trunk on board the train. He was not as small as he was in his first year and thus did not need the twins' help.

He pulled his trunk to his favorite compartment at the end of the train and settled in for the long journey ahead of him. He wondered why Dumbledore wanted him at the school so early. Maybe he wants to make me a teacher, Harry thought jokingly. He spent the next few minutes amusing himself by imagining all the control he would have over his friends. The first thing I would do is give Draco Malfoy and his two bodyguards' detention with Professor Snape, Harry thought viciously. Good thing that his father was in Azkaban now. At least he won't be able to strut around like he owned the place.

Harry curled up in the plush red seats with his head against the window, watching the scenery zoom by. Within minutes he was asleep.

The past two days have been good to Charlie. Angelo, the blonde Latino boy she had picked up on the beach was overjoyed to show her around town and they had spent the past two days cruising about on his moped. They spent days on the beach, occasionally going to eat or swim and nights partying at the hottest clubs available. It was a summer fling, and Charlie made sure to make that clear. Angelo didn't seem to mind, so the summer romance kept flowing.

Charlie had met some of Angelo's very yummy friends and was currently talking to Jose, Cameron's room-mate. He went to the College right across the street from the beach they were at. He was an English Lit. major and was trying to convince Angelo and Charlie to go to the Poetry Festival at the Square that evening.

They would end up going, Charlie loved poetry, and Angelo would go anywhere with her. This was a nice break from her usual life. The Wizarding World was so rigid and severe. Everything had to be so proper in England. Santa Maria was perfect for Charlie. Laid back and easy living, and hey, everybody deserved a break right?

Harry woke up to the feeling of someone blowing in his ear. Blowing very hard. At first he thought that the window got some how ajar but when he opened his eyes he saw that none other than Draco Malfoy was leaning over his sleeping body, blowing in his ear.

He sprang up from the seat and stared at the blonde, who was laughing like a hyena. "You should have seen the look on your face!" He said between gasps for air. He sat down on the seat that Harry had moments ago abandoned. It took a second for Harry to understand what was happening, having just been rudely woken up from a pleasant dream.

"Malfoy what the hell are you doing here?" He asked, his brain finally catching up with the events. "Now, now, Potter. No need to be so rude. I was just checking to make sure that you actually made it on the train. You know how it is… with certain Dark Wizards about you can never tell when you could get attacked." He said with a knowing smirk.

"What? Did your father tell you that Voldemort was going to assassinate me while coming here? Oh wait! He couldn't have, he's in jail!" Harry retorted.

At Harry's words Draco paled, which was a sight to behold, considering that Draco was already vampire pale. "Listen Potter," He spat viciously, "I don't care that you're Dumbledore's favorite pet, that wont do you shit in a fight. You want to spend all your life in your wrapped up fantasy world that's fine by me but that doesn't mean that you can insult me or my father, you don't even know the half of it."

"You're one to talk. You insult me, my family _and_ my friends' family. It may have been a low blow but at least I have respect for the dead." Harry shot back.

Draco narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Harry sat down across from him. Feeling guilty he said "Look, I'm sure that if we tried, we could get along for the remainder of the trip. Let's can the insults and attempt a civil conversation."

Draco was instantly suspicious but decided to give the Griffindor the benefit of the doubt. "Fine." He said.

After a few tense moments Harry attempted to converse, "You never answered my question Malfoy, why are you on the train? School doesn't start for another month and a half."

"Dumbledore decided to whisk me away from my manor and my delightful vacation." Draco said sarcastically. "He said it would be worth my while, but he wouldn't tell me anything until the so-called 'other party' arrived. I'm guessing that would be you."

"Guess so." Harry said. What would Dumbledore want with me and Draco Malfoy of all people, Harry wondered. Well, guess we're going to find out when we get to Hogwarts.

Deciding that polite conversation to help the time pass would be in order Harry asked Draco about his summer vacation.

"It was abysmal." He replied, using Professor Snape's favorite word for Harry's potions. Harry smiled and told him about the Dursley's. Draco was horrified that they made him do the weeding. Imagine all the dirt that you'd get under your fingernails!

The attempt at civil conversation was a success, with minimum casualties. Harry was amazed that Malfoy could actually listen and not interrupt all the time. Maybe he changed over the summer, Harry mused. Naw! Malfoy's sole purpose in life was to make the people around him miserable.

A blue curtain of darkness covered the sky as the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade. Draco had gone to his own compartment to change into school robes and do whatever a Malfoy does. Probably put on makeup, Harry mused.

He had changed into his school robes and was now waiting patiently to get off the train. The announcement from the driver of the train had said that all Hogwarts students were to leave their trunks onboard. Harry was soon impatient to get off the train to see his good friend Hagrid. Only when he got off Hagrid was no where to be seen. There was only one thestral pulled carriage waiting for him and Draco.

Harry watched and the blonde got out of the train like the Queen of England. He snorted at Malfoy's antics. "There's nobody here to impress, you ninny. Now would you get off your marry little throne and get in the carriage before it leaves without us?" Harry said impatiently.

Draco huffed and jumped gracefully to the ground. "I am _not_ a ninny." He replied, but promptly got in the carriage. The thestrals gave a mighty heave and began their journey down the winding path to Hogwarts.

TBC

Chapter 4 is done. I'm almost finished writing chapter 5. It's extra long. 6 pages and I'm not even done. Summary for next chappie: The boy's finally find out why they are sent to Hogwarts a month early.

Teaser: "_Canada_, actually, Mr. Malfoy." stated a loud female voice calmly from above. "If you called anybody at Monty _American_ they would probably feed you your favorite body part."

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	5. Chapter 4 Instigation part III

(Thank you to all my reviews. You guys rock. Now those of you who have stayed with the story will find out why they got sent to Hogwarts a month early.)

Chapter 4 - Instigation part III

The rolling hills of Hogwarts were a sigh to behold. The lake and the fields of grass where like heaven to Harry, who had spent the last two weeks in the presence of brown, dry grass in the Dursley's front lawn. The drought had affected most of England but the flora of Hogwarts was still perfect, no doubt affected by all the spare magic floating around from the school itself.

The school sat in the middle of all the perfection. The enormous castle, probably belonging to some king in the middle ages, now held the most prestigious magical academy in all of Europe. And in the tower where Albus Dumbledore had made his home sat two very grouchy people.

Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were summoned to the headmasters' office first thing in the morning after having spent the night in their respective House towers. It was eight and Draco was fuming at the thought of waking up at this ungodly hour on his summer vacation. The headmaster wasn't even here yet. He was about to take out his anger on the Griffindor who sat beside him when the sound of the escalator stairway made a loud grinding noise and moments later the two young wizards were joined by none other that Albus Dumbledore.

Harry tore his gaze away from Fawkes, the enormous golden Phoenix that belonged to the headmaster, and looked at the man with a question in his gaze. Draco, of course, being the impatient brat that he is, decided that he wanted answers _now_.

"OK, headmaster, you took us away from our respective vacations and brought us back to school a month and a half early with no explanation whatsoever. I would greatly appreciate to know why I am here with Harry Potter of all people." Draco said impatiently.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, you must be very antsy to find out why I have dragged you here during your holiday. Let me explain. I have been corresponding with a school called The Montague academy of Training Arts. They have an exchange program with many European schools. I heard many good things about Montague from Madame Maxime. She has said that students at Montague learn discipline, combative art, all infused with magical learning.

"The headmistress of Montague has generously agreed to let two of my highest ranking Defense against the Dark Arts students exchange with two of her best magical learning students. Training to get into the grade one class of her school is very difficult. Montague leans more towards physical combat.

"If you agree your training starts immediately, if you refuse, I will have to go with my second best choice. Your decisions are needed by the end of the day. Do you have any questions?" Dumbledore said calmly.

"I've heard of this school from a family friend. They say that to get in you have to pass all sorts of exams and inquiries. Are you saying that we get a free pass into this school without the scrutiny?" Draco said disbelievingly.

"You have to pass the entry exam but if you train hard for the next month you will, without doubt, get in." Dumbledore said.

"Wait a minute. So we leave for the next _year_?" Harry asked incredulously. The prospect of going to a different school to learn how to fight was appealing, to say the least, but Hogwarts was his home. He didn't want to leave his friends and the only place he ever felt safe at.

Dumbledore sighed, "Yes Harry, the whole year, although you are more than welcome to stay at Hogwarts for the winter break." Dumbledore gave a small smile. Harry always tried not to complain about the Dursley's but the headmaster knew that they hardly treated him like a human being. But their house was the only place safe for Harry to go to when he was away from Hogwarts. The blood of his relatives kept Voldemort at bay, during the summer at least.

"So, where is this school anyway? I know they're secretive and all but at least tell us the country." Draco said. Dumbledore's attention went back to Draco. If it was his choice he would have never chosen the boy to go to Montague's, but he was the second to top student in his year, right after Harry, and he, too, was having a less than pleasant time at home. Dumbledore knew that his father was a Death Eater and he knew that Lucius would pursue Draco to become one as well. Maybe it would be good for the young Malfoy to be away from home for a while. Dumbledore tried to salvage what he could, and Draco Malfoy was not a lost cause yet.

"The school is on an island in southern Canada, Mr. Malfoy, on the West coast." Dumbledore replied.

"You're sending us to _America_?" Draco said with disgust. It was said that all the outcasts and squibs of the European Wizarding world were sent to America.

"_Canada_, actually, Mr. Malfoy." stated a loud female voice calmly from above. "If you called anybody at Monty _American_ they would probably feed you your favorite body part." The voice came from a tall woman standing on the landing, leading up to Dumbledore's private chambers. She had shoulder length black hair tied in a high ponytail, an oval face, and striking ice blue eyes. She was wearing what appeared to be a black tank top and black leather pants; she had protective bands around her wrists, and wore knee high black boots. No heel, of course.

Harry's opinion was that she looked like someone not to mess with, a fighter or warrior. Or course, Malfoy just didn't know when to keep his mouth shut.

"Who are you?" He said rudely. "I am Asha Reign, headmistress of Montague's" The woman said, still in a calm voice. "and I'm not sure I want such rude people in my school." Draco, finally realizing his mistake, mumbled a sorry.

Harry did not want the headmistress of a famous school to get the wrong impression.

"You'll have to excuse Draco. He hasn't taken his usual shot of caffeine this morning." Harry said with a look at the accursed Slitherin. Draco glared right back.

Asha Reign gave a small smile. "You'll have to get used to waking us early in the morning, most classes at Montague's start at eight thirty. That's not including breakfast." Draco gave the woman a horrified expression.

Dumbledore decided that it was time to intervene.

"Professor Reign is here to teach you the basics to pass your admission exam." He said calmly.

"You said we have until the end of the day to tell you if we want to do this?" Draco asked.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore replied.

"Where are we staying until then? The Slitherin Dorms fell weird without everybody there." Draco asked.

Harry had felt the same way. It was odd to wake up without the usual prattle of the four boys he shared his dorm with.

"You will be staying in the north tower, below the Divination class room. That way you won't have that much walking to do to get to the training room. You will have separate bedrooms but the bathroom, I'm afraid, will have to be shared." Dumbledore informed them. He was expecting an outburst of rage from the blonde, the prospect of sharing anything was a foreign concept to the Malfoy, having been an only child. He was not disappointed.

"What! I have to share a bathroom with the likes of _that_? He's going to give me a brain aneurysm!" Draco ranted.

"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist. What's the worst I'm going to do? Steal your toothbrush and hide it in the vegetable patch?" Harry replied. Draco just looked at him incredulously.

Harry stood up and with a "Good bye, Professor, it was nice meeting you." and walked out the door. Malfoy can rival Snape with his snarkiness, Harry thought. All he does is whine and complain.

It took a while for him to find the room Dumbledore was talking about. It was a modest sized bedroom with the customary four poster bed, a nightstand, a dresser, an old grandfather clock in the corner, a desk and a door on the other side of the room. The door must lead to the bathroom. There was a small window overlooking the grounds and a bit of the lake.

With a sigh Harry fell ungracefully on the red and gold four poster. It was his choice, either stay here and continue life as it is or go to Canada to spend a year with Malfoy. Harry knew why Dumbledore picked him for this exchange, he was endangering the students. Dumbledore wanted Harry to go because that way it would take longer for Voldemort to find him. And this was the perfect opportunity for him to learn to fight.

If it was a choice between endangering his friends or staying with his friends he would definitely go to Montague's.

Harry sighed and got up off the bed. He walked over to his unpacked trunk and started to jam his clothes into the dresser. He looked at his reflection in the mirror that was hung on the inside of the door. He hadn't cut his hair for a whole entire year, so now it was long enough to tie in a very short ponytail. Funny, but he never even noticed how fast it grew. His eyes were the color of fresh grass, his only inheritance from his dead mother. They were framed by his usual round glasses. Otherwise he was identical to his father. He was short, only five foot three. My growth must be stunted from all the times Voldemort has tried to kill me, Harry though moodily. Ron was already fast approaching six foot tall, compared to him Harry was a midget.

He abandoned the task of putting his clothes away and collapsed on the bed again. He was tired from having to wake up so early. It was only nine, but the night before Harry had stayed up until midnight reading a paperback book. His eyes drooped sleepily. I'll take a nap until lunchtime, Harry thought.

After a long discussion with Dumbledore about how they were going to convince his mother to let him go to another country, Draco was incredibly tired. Potter might have a point, he thought sourly, a morning without coffee was not good for his mood.

He walked to the room Dumbledore has given him. It had very Slitherin décor. Everything was green and silver; otherwise it was identical to Harry's room except that the door was on the other side.

Draco sat down on his bed and looked at the aforementioned door. That door is the only connection I have with Harry, Draco thought sadly. The blonde had had a crush on the Griffindor for the past two years and it took all of his self control not to act upon his attraction. It's hard to insult somebody that you like, Draco had told his good friend Blaise one time. Contrary to popular belief, he did have real friends, and it would be hard to leave for a year and not see them.

Although a year without Pansy would be a relief, Draco mused, that girl is the most annoying harpy ever. She clings to me like some kind of parasite. And there was no spray for that kind of disease. Draco almost laughed at the mental picture of a can of Pansicide.

As for the decision whether he was going to go to Montague's, he had already told the headmaster that he was going. He would do anything to put a few oceans in between himself and his father.

TBC

Please review

Teaser for chapter 5: "I'm sick and tired of people judging me because I 'defeated the dark lord'. This is my chance to start over. Nobody has to know who I am. To them I'm your average teenager, and that's what I want to be." Harry replied to the blonde.


	6. Chapter 5 Far From Normal

Sorry this one took so long.

Chapter 5 – Far From Normal

Harry woke up with a start. The clock on the wall was chiming for the twelfth, final time. Harry's stomach growled from lack of food, he never actually got a chance to eat breakfast. The owl with the letter to go to the headmaster's office came just as he woke up.

Harry reluctantly got out of the nice warm bed and put on his shoes. They were old and scuffed. They vaguely reminded him of another pair of shoes that he had seen, though he could not place where he had seen them.

He went into the bathroom to go run a brush through his hair. The minute he walked in, he saw that Malfoy had obviously unpacked. There was all sorts of bathroom stuff scattered about. Amazingly enough, a bag full of makeup was lying on the counter. Harry gave a snort of laughter. Malfoy really does put on makeup. He washed his hands and attempted to straighten his robes. They were wrinkled from having been slept in.

Harry made his way down to the Great Hall. It was a longer walk from the north tower, which was situated on the sixth floor, so it took a whole fifteen minutes to get here. He was surprised to see that the four house tables have been replaced with one smaller table, around which sat the teachers who stayed at the castle during their break.

Harry took a seat next to Professor Dumbledore, who was talking about current test results with Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore smiled brightly when Harry sat down and passed him a bowl of soup. Harry devoured the soup with a flourish and asked for seconds. Dumbledore just laughed as the bowl magically refilled itself.

Draco came in the entrance hall talking to none other than Professor Reign. He was asking what she would teach them before the test. Obviously the blonde had already chosen to go, Harry thought miserably. He didn't want to be stuck with his rival of five years for a whole entire school year. But he also didn't want to endanger his friends.

"Professor, I've made my decision, I'm going to go to Montague's." Harry said to Dumbledore.

"That's excellent!" Dumbledore replied enthusiastically. "You're training commences tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp. There is a room on the sixth floor, right beside your bedroom, where you will practice."

"OK." Harry said. "Is there anything I can do until tomorrow? I can help clean out the classes, if you'd like. I have nothing else to do today." McGonagall smiled at Harry.

"If you want you can help me with my marking." She said.

Harry quickly finished his soup and went to the Transfiguration room, where Professor McGonagall was waiting for him with a stack of paper and a long quill.

"These are some of the assignments I have yet to put in my mark book. All you have to do is write down the mark they got on this chart." She explained.

Harry spent the next few hours doing this. He came across most of his friends' assignments, even read a few of the funny essays. He was beginning the Ravenclaw pile and the first paper was done by Cho Chang. Harry stared at the paper. Cho was the girl he had had a crush on for the past two years. Every time he looked at her he felt light-headed. But now these feelings were gone, he felt nothing when he thought of her. Probably because I liked her boyfriend better than I liked her, Harry thought. He knew that his feelings for Cedric were more than just friendly, but he refused to think that he was gay.

I'm just a teenager with heightened hormones, Harry thought. I mean, I never fantasized about him or anything. His death probably just got me really stressed out. But why do I react so violently when Dudley makes fun of my dreams? Why does it bother me when he insults my sexual orientation? These questions have been plaguing Harry for the whole summer.

But then again so what if I was gay. Hermione said so herself, there's nothing wrong with liking someone of your own sex, at least I have her support. Ron never really talked about it, but Hermione must have realized that Harry never had crushes on girls. At first he thought that there was something wrong with him but Hermione assured him that it would either pass or if it didn't she would always support his choice of partners in life.

Harry decided to leave the subject alone, he had scrutinized it enough as it is. He quickly finished putting the marks in the book and went to go find something else to do. It was already dark outside, but the dark was Harry's favorite time to be outside, nobody could see his scar and judge him in the dark.

He was joined on the front steps by his future Headmistress. Professor Reign had put a light jacket over her tank top to keep warm.

"Hello," she said quietly, "I saw you through my window and thought that since we'll be training together for the next few days I should get to know you a bit better."

Harry turned to her and leaned on the post with his back. "Yeah, I guess you should, although my history is already printed for the world to see." He said bitterly.

"You could take this as a chance to start over." Professor Reign said. "I know that you've been victimized by the press all your life, and your life has been written for the world to see, but at Monty's nobody will know your past. You could even change your name. Nobody will be the wiser."

Harry smiled, maybe she was right. "OK. From now on I am universally known to the public as…" He thought hard, what would be a fitting name for him. "Raven." He had heard the name before, but he couldn't place where.

"Raven." She said. "I like it. It's very fitting." She got up and walked through the enormous mahogany doors. "Don't be late tomorrow."

Harry got up not long after that, he needed his sleep. Something told him that he would require all of his strength tomorrow.

The grandfather clock woke Harry at seven thirty the next morning. He got out if bed and went to the bathroom. Malfoy was still sleeping, so he took a quick shower and went down to breakfast. He buttered himself toast and sipped his pumpkin juice.

Draco came in minutes later. He looked a bit tired but otherwise like his usual self. Harry never really got a proper look at him. He had definitely changed since the first time he had seen him. He no longer looked like an undernourished rat. His facial features had hardened, and the lines of his face had gotten more defined. His hair was the usual insane blonde, but it was cut in an unusual way, the front was chin length but at the back it was shorter. He had grown to be five foot six and he wasn't stopping. Harry was surprised that Draco hadn't made any smart remarks about how he was taller than him.

Professor Reign came in the great hall. She was wearing an all-leather outfit with thigh high boots with bat clips all up the sides. It was five to eight so they weren't late. She walked up to Professor Dumbledore and had a short whispered argument, and after a while he reluctantly nodded, then she left with a curt nod at the two boys.

The two wizards got up and followed her to the training room. The room was spectacular. An enormous obstacle course was set up throughout the whole room. The walls were ceiling to floor mirrors. Half the room was tiled and the other half was padded with cushiony material. Harry's mouth fell open in astonishment. Professor Reign looked at the two boys.

"There is a locker room behind that door." she said pointing to the far side of the room. "Your training clothes are lying on the benches. You will wear your running clothes as you will begin every morning with a four mile run around the lake, followed by hand to hand combat until lunch and the afternoon will be solely for weapons practices. You begin now. Meet me back here after your run."

The two wizards went into the locker room. There were three piles of clothes in plastic bags. They were labeled RUNNING, HAND TO HAND and WEAPONS. Harry opened each bag and put the two extras into one of the lockers on the wall. The weapons uniform was by far the biggest package, it was made of tough leather, no doubt to protect their skin from the weapons they would be using. The running uniform was a pair of sweatpants and a short sleeved shirt. There was a hoodie but Harry decided that today was too hot for that. The uniform was navy colored and had a circle with a dragon inside of it as the Montague's crest. Malfoy would fit right in, Harry thought, smiling.

Draco put on the navy uniform and walked out the door. Seeing Harry half naked would not be good for my self control, he thought. He got out of the castle and began the run around the lake. Once around the lake would probably be two miles so he would have to make it around twice before lunch.

Draco thought that he was in good shape but the run around the lake had proven him wrong. The blazing heat didn't do anything to improve his attitude. Draco heard the footsteps of his running companion behind him, and Harry slowly caught up to him. Soon they were running side by side. After the first time around the lake they took a short rest stop by the water.

"I'm surprised that you haven't insulted me yet, a whole morning and not a single word. What did I do to deserve this peace?" Harry finally asked. Truthfully, Draco's silence had unnerved him a bit. The blonde hardly went a moment without insulting him.

"Guess I got my caffeine today." He said, glaring at the younger boy.

Harry smiled. "Ah, coffee, the nectar of coherent life." Draco gave a snort of laughter and continued running.

"See if you can keep up, Potter." He called after the other boy.

Harry quickly caught up to him and said, "My name is no longer Harry Potter. I've decided to change my name to Raven." He was already slightly out of breath.

"Raven? Why would the almighty Harry Potter want to change his name?" Draco asked.

"I'm sick and tired of people judging me because I 'defeated the dark lord'. This is my chance to start over. Nobody has to know who I am. To them I'm your average teenager, and that's what I want to be." Harry replied to the blonde. Draco thought about that. Harry Potter doesn't want to be Harry Potter? I had always thought that the boy relished being in the spotlight. I guess I don't know him that well.

The run was finished in silence, as both boys were out of breath for any more conversation.

It took an hour to run the four miles. Professor Reign was not impressed.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to pass the exam. We only have three hours to practice hand to hand combat. I will start off with showing you the simple moves that all my students know. These moves must become secondary impulse to you. I want you to practice them every morning and every night before you go to bed. In combat your brain takes time to tell your body what to do. Theses moves you have to learn without the need to think."

She waved her hand and the obstacle course vanished, leaving the floor completely bare, except a post that was in the middle of the room and a fountain that Harry had not seen before because it was obscured by the obstacles.

"Go change into your hand to hand uniforms." She said, "Then get back here, and don't dawdle, you've wasted enough time as it is." Harry and Draco walked quickly to the locker room and got their hand to hand uniform. This one was maroon with the same crest on the skin tight shirt. The pants were, thankfully, not skin tight, but rather loose, to allow movement. The boys changed hurriedly and came back outside.

Professor Reign showed them the first five moves and told them to practice for the next hour. She sat in a chair conjured from thin air. Harry vaguely wondered how she did it without a wand but his thoughts were interrupted by a loud "Come on Raven. Don't just stand there, let's see those moves." Harry was stunned for a minute but started the first move: a forward kick meant to hit someone in the chest.

"Kick a little higher, Draco." Professor Reign yelled. Harry glanced at Draco, who glared at him before Professor Reign yelled at them for not paying attention.

They spent the next hour doing the five moves she showed them. Professor Reign criticized them both when they didn't kick high, or low, enough and when they slacked off.

She then showed them the next five moves and they practiced all ten moves for two hours.

It was finally lunch and the boys were exhausted, Professor Reign's five moves were like Carmen Electra's Striptease exercises. They were sweaty and hungry. Professor Dumbledore laughed while watching the boys attack the food like hungry wolves.

Lunch was too short for Draco. They were back in the studio and already changed into their weapons uniforms. They were tough black leather with a bit of padding on the sides of the leg, arm and chest.

Professor Reign came out of a little room that held the weapons and handed them two padded poles. Draco stared questioningly at the professor.

"They are padded for your protection. I don't think it's safe to give you two anything even remotely sharp right now." She said. She then proceeded to show them how to block attacks.

Everything was done in slow motion, so they could do it properly. Then they sped up, doing the defense movements faster, and faster. They were easy to do but when Professor Reign tested them, all knowledge of defense movements went out the window. So they practiced more. After two grueling hours Professor Reign grudgingly approved, but said they would practice more tomorrow.

Then she showed them simple attack movements. They spent another two hours doing that. By the end the two students were complaining that movements were boring and they wanted to have a fight. Professor Reign permitted a supervised sparring match. After all how much damage could they do with padded sticks?

Harry and Draco stood on different sides of the room. Padded pole in hand they waited for the signal to begin. Professor Reign gave a sharp whistle and the two boys charged at each other.

Draco began the fight with a hit to Harry's neck. Harry easily batted it away and came back at Draco with a hit to the thigh. Draco defended himself easily. They kept on fighting like this for a good ten minutes until Draco hit the raven boy square in the side of the head. Harry fell to the ground with the impact of the hit, the blonde smiled victoriously.

"And again a Malfoy beats the little Raven. Just goes to show that I'm better than you in so many ways." Draco said mockingly.

"Shut up, ferret." Harry spat viciously. Draco froze in his tracks. The incident with Moody was a tender subject with the blonde Slytherin. Most people knew to keep their mouths shut, but Harry obviously did not.

"What did you just call me?" Draco hissed.

"Ferret." Harry said, drawing out the f.

Draco saw red. He dropped the padded stick and charged at the Griffindor in front of him. He was going to tear him apart with his bare hands. Harry's face was shocked but he used the padded stick to protect himself from the worst of Draco's blows. They fell to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Draco still hitting every part of Harry he could reach. The younger boy rolled away from him but Draco pursued him. He picked up his stick along the way, and started bashing Harry with that instead of his fists.

Draco heard the distant yell of Professor Reign, and heard her running to stop the fight. Draco reflexively pointed at her and yelled "Protego!" From the middle of Draco's palm came a small blue bubble, which instantly grew to be an enormous blue shield surrounding the two fighting boys. Professor Reign ran up to the shield and pounded her fists on the blue surface but couldn't get in.

Draco realized he had Harry on the floor beneath him and smiled an evil smile. Harry looked straight into his eyes and with all of his strength pushed his hands into Draco's stomach.

A surge of power ran through his veins as he watched Draco fly through the air and smash into the shield he had moments ago created. Harry felt something sticky on his face and he reached his hand up to touch it. He held his hand up in front of his face and saw blood.

He stood up carefully and walked over to the blonde, who lay crumpled on the floor. Everything was a bit blurry and Harry realized that his glasses must have fallen off. He looked around and saw them lying on the floor where the fight had started. He put them back on his face and observed his next obstacle.

The protego charm was cast to deflect common hexes but it sees like Draco's wandless magic has created a defective carbon copy of the spell, keeping out whole human beings. He looked through the semi-transparent bubble at Professor Reign, who was quickly accompanied by Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Dumbledore. News spread quickly at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore got out his wand and tried a few spells but the bubble stayed fully intact. Harry looked at the blonde accusingly. Stupid Slytherins, he thought angrily, if it wasn't for the boy wonder that _had_ to use wandless magic in an agitated state I wouldn't be here.

Ok, think, Harry thought. What would break the spell? If wandless magic created it maybe wandless magic would destroy it, Harry thought hopefully. But the times Harry had ever done wandless magic was when he was under a lot of stress, and it wasn't intentional.

Harry concentrated hard on the shield, willing it to melt. It didn't work. He closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten. He breathed out and willed, with all his might, for the shield to melt. He imagined it slowly melting, leaving a puddle on the ground. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see it had worked.

The three professors immediately ran to him and after a few seconds Madam Pomfrey went over to Draco. Professor Reign was yelling at him for starting the fight and Professor Dumbledore was simply staring at Harry with a look of surprise on his face.

"How did you take down the shield Harry?" He interrupted Professor Reign's accusatory tirade.

"I just willed it to melt." Harry said. "I didn't think it was going to work but..." He trailed off.

The headmaster mumbled something inaudible and walked over to Draco, who was being patched up by Madam Pomfrey. There were no serious injuries, just a few bruises. Madam Pomfrey lifted up Draco's shirt and saw the two hand prints that were quickly turning blue.

"Wow, Potter, how did you manage to throw him off of you like that? Normal teenagers aren't supposed to be able to do that." said professor Reign, staring at the two bruises.

"Normal teenagers aren't supposed to be able to do wandless magic this advanced." said Dumbledore calmly. "But it seems that theses two gentlemen are anything _but_ normal."

Harry agreed whole-heartedly. He didn't know how he threw Draco off of him, but it was far from normal to be able to make a shield charm powerful enough to block out people. It just made you wonder if Draco Malfoy was as human as he looked.

End Chapter 5

TBC

Teaser: "So I have asked Professor Dumbledore and he said it would be a good idea for the two of you to spend tomorrow, Saturday, at Hogsmeade, sorting out your differences."

An whole day together... I wonder what could happen? This chapter was really long. the nezt is even longer, so i think im just going to split it in half and make a two part... please review!


	7. Chapter 6 foundation of friendship

(Important AN at end of chapter)

Chapter 6 - Foundation of Friendship

Professor Reign was sitting in her private chambers. She has been teaching Draco and Harry for a week now and she had never seen this much progress from people who have never done combative arts.

The show of strength from Harry the week before was truly amazing and Draco's wandless magic was the most advanced she had ever seen. A shield charm like that should not have been able to keep her out.

The events that happened the week before were unfavorable for the boys' friendship. She had never met them before but it seemed to her that the boys mutually hated one another. Something must be done. She had retained from telling them but they would be sharing rooms at Monty's. The school was very famous but that didn't help their budget. Everybody has a room-mate and since all the other students have made their choices for the past month Draco and Harry were automatically paired with each other.

They needed to sort out their differences because they will never last throughout the whole year. She had asked what the students were allowed to do for fun at the castle and Dumbledore said that they went to Hogsmeade, the all magic village that was a short walk away from the castle. This gave the Professor a brilliant idea.

Harry woke up to the now familiar sound of the grandfather clock. It was seven thirty and he got up off the bed and dragged himself to the bathroom. Malfoy was already there, brushing his hair. He was in his running uniform, and he left within seconds.

Harry sighed, ever since Harry had knocked him out Draco had been avoiding him at all costs, only talking to insult him, he otherwise kept silent. Harry didn't really mind, but it was rather lonely at the castle without Ron or Hermione to talk to.

Harry took a fast shower and slipped into his running uniform. He walked to the great hall for breakfast. Ever since that whispered argument that the two Head's had, the house eves have been serving coffee at breakfast. Harry had to admit, the inky liquid was refreshing in the early hours of the morning.

He finished breakfast and went for his usual run around the lake. After a week of running he could finish within forty minutes, which left them with three hours to do hand to hand. They had gotten much better at the moves Professor Reign showed them, considering that she made them practice for hours. She had also showed them basic defense moves for forward attacks. The day was spent in the usual silence, only broken by Professor Reign's yells of encouragement.

Noon came around and the two young wizards changed into normal clothes and made their way down to the great hall for lunch. There were two empty seats next to Professor Reign and she waved them over. The boys sat down on opposites sides of her and looked at her expectantly.

"I know that you two are mad at each other, and I can understand why but this foolish rivalry has to stop. I have not told you this but you will be sharing a room at Montague's." she raised a hand at the shouted protests. "I cannot change this, the choice is not mine. The students have already picked their room-mates a month ago. If I had known that you two had such a problem with each other then I would have asked for separate rooms but they have all been occupied by now." She said calmly. The boys glared at one another. The prospect of sharing anything was less than favorable.

"So I have asked Professor Dumbledore and he said it would be a good idea for the two of you to spend tomorrow, Saturday, at Hogsmeade, sorting out your differences. I am not asking for a miracle but at least try to talk to each other and apologize. If you come back to the castle still mad at each other I will have to go to extreme methods. You do not want this to happen." she said.

The rest of the day passed quickly. In weapons practice they had short sparring matches with Professor Reign. She had promised them that they would start with real swords next week.

It was late afternoon and Harry usually spent this time reading in the library or helping Professor McGonagall with her marking. Today he decided that his room needed cleaning. He usually came in and threw his clothes on the floor and this resulted in several piles of stinky clothes. Mixed in with the books and other miscellaneous items than he had a tendency to throw on the ground this made his room look like all hell broke loose.

He spent the next hour putting his things away and throwing his dirty clothes into the hamper. The hamper was a wonderful device that took your clothes automatically to the laundry room, cleaned them, and brought them back while they're still warm. When Harry finished his chore he decided to take a bath. He usually took fast showers in the morning and it's been a while since he took a relaxing bath.

Harry was just about to act upon his desire when a soft tap came from the window. He saw Hedwig, with a letter tied to her leg, outside. (M:Do you think I should say 'he saw Hedwig outside. With a letter tied to her leg?) He let the snowy owl in and untied the letter. It was addressed from Ron and Hermione.

It had been a long time since he heard from either one of them and he was excited to hear what they were up to. Harry ran to his bed and jumped up and down on it. Hedwig gave him an astonished hoot and flew out the window.

Harry finally sat down and opened the letter.

_Dear Harry, _

_Dumbledore told us that you were going to a different school for a year! He said that since you were the best Defense against the Dark Arts student you were chosen to go. Hermione gave a long speech about how this was a great opportunity and how she supports your decision but I have to say WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! You are going to leave us for a WHOLE YEAR. You're leaving everything behind, classes, Quiddich, US. You're going god knows where to a school that hardly teaches magic with MALFOY of all people! If I was given that choice I would never go. _

_But Dumbledore says it's a really good chance for you to learn how to fight and you can come back if things don't work out. (Sorry, mate, but I personally hope they don't.) Hermione is bouncing up and down with the prospect of 'all the things he'll learn.' Geez, the woman is insane. I hope you meet some great people over there! But while making new friends don't forget us! Write soon._

_Your friends, Hermione and Ron. _

Harry read the letter and smiled. It was just like Hermione to support him whatever he does. Ron was a little over the top. It was sad that he wouldn't be able to see his friends for a year but he was protecting them! And he'd get to see them in the Winter Break. But their letter also opened up a whole new window of opportunity. Harry never thought about all the new people he would meet. Maybe he could finally find himself a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend.

Harry smiled and went over to the desk. He got out a piece of parchment and a quill and began his letter to his friends.

_Dear Ron and Hermione, _

_I know I won't get to see you for a year but I'll write as much as I possibly can. Malfoy isn't so bad when he's ignoring me and I'm sure I'll meet some new people at the school to keep me occupied. _

_I've already started training and it's really hard. I have to run for four miles every day. It's horrible. But my new headmistress is very nice. Her name is Professor Reign and she's a really good fighter. She's teaching me a lot. _

_Life at the castle is very odd without the students. Only a few Professors have stayed for the holidays. I'm just glad that Professor Snape isn't here. Hagrid is also away on 'business' as Dumbledore calls it. I have no one to talk to except Malfoy, and talking to him is like feeding sharks, one false move and he bites your head off. _

_Please write soon, Harry. _

He laid the letter out to dry and went to go take his delayed bath.

Charlie sat down on the bed in Angelo's room. She had spent the last week in Santa Maria with the gorgeous blonde. Her day usually started with him picking her up at her sleazy motel room. But today she had decided to go to his tiny apartment by the beach. She had made her way up the stairs and used a simple spell to open the door so she could surprise him, but she was amazed to find that nobody was home.

She checked all the rooms, there were only two, the bedroom and the bathroom, but Angelo was no where to be seen. So she decided to wait for her Latino God.

A small red blinking light caught her attention. It was the answering machine on his nightstand. The screen told her that there were two old messages. She crawled across the bed to the nightstand and without any moral conflict pressed the _old_ button. The machine whirred and a wheezy voice told her the date and time.

"Angelo, we need to talk. The bloods are getting out of hand, they start to bite humans, and the police are getting involved." said a male voice, his accent was slightly Spanish and he sounded like he was in pain. The machine whirred again and the same voice yelled something inaudible and then screamed. The line was cut and the machine said its usual 'end of messages'.

Charlie swore colorfully under her breath. She knew that the term bloods was slang for vampires. The situation sounded very bad. Charlie suspected Angelo was doing something illegal, or mystical. Every time he would come to pick her up he would reek of magical residue. He was into some deep magical shit and as usual Charlie had to come to the rescue.

Why is it that every time I take a vacation from magic, magic always finds me? She got off the bed and ran to the garage at the bottom of the apartment. She found Angelo's moped and got on. Pointing at the ignition and muttering _commenco _the engine roared to life and Charlie was off.

Draco woke up Saturday morning with a splitting headache. He had spent the night before choosing carefully what he would wear to Hogsmeade. The prospect of spending a whole day with Harry at the village had scared him at first. But if they were to spend the next year together they would have at least try to be less than enemies.

Draco looked around his room. He had laid out his final choice of clothes on the desk. He chose a pair of black dress slacks and a green silk long-sleeved shirt. They were folded beside the envelope with a letter to Blaise Zambini and Tracey Davies, who were spending the summer together because they just recently hooked up. The couple was Draco's best friends and he was happy that they had finally gotten together. He was getting a bit tired of them making goo-goo eyes at each other.

He had told them that he was going to Montague's for a year and wished them the best of luck together. He hated not seeing his friends for a year, who would he talk to when he was in a bad mood? Harry made his feelings clear when he knocked him out a week ago. Draco sighed, I just have to face it, we'll never end up together. There are too many factors: my family, Harry's friends, and the fact that Harry wasn't gay. Draco rolled off the bed and walked to the bathroom. He was a night-shower person and so all he had to do was brush his hair and change.

He looked around the counters for the hairbrush. He finally found it beside Pansy's bag of make-up. He had somehow put it in his bag the year before and thought he would be able to give it back to her, but it seemed like he wouldn't be seeing her for a while. My, how Pansy must be suffering without her make-up, Draco thought idly.

The door on the other side of the room opened and Draco instantly pasted on his 'I'm mad at you' look. Harry sighed and walked over to the counter. He got out his own hairbrush and started to brush his sexily tousled hair. Draco stared at the now shoulder length mass.

"How the hell do you control that mess?" he asked vehemently.

"Malfoy, if we're going to live in the same room for a year you might as well start by not insulting me all the time. I'm sure you won't melt if you say something nice to me. And who knows, it could be therapeutic." Harry said.

"What do you mean, say something nice?" Draco asked.

"Say something nice about me, and I'll say something nice about you. I saw it on TV once. It's a way for you to concentrate on the positive aspects of a person instead of the negative." Harry explained, putting the hairbrush back on the counter and facing Draco expectantly.

"What? You want me to say something right now?" Draco asked.

"Yes." Harry answered simply. "I'm sure you can find_ something_ about me that you like."

"Ok…" Draco trailed off. There was plenty that he liked about the raven boy but none of it would be appropriate to say.

"I like that you don't give up. You try to befriend me even if it's hopeless." Draco finally said.

"It's only hopeless because you make it hopeless." Harry replied. "But thank you. I like that you stand up for your family and friends, you're loyal, something I would have never expected."

Draco smiled. "You know this really helps." Then his gaze narrowed, "Bt if you try to hug me right now I will feed you your head in a basket."

Harry laughed and said, "Don't worry, no chick-flick moments."

Draco stared at him. "What the bloody hell is a chick-flick?" he asked.

Harry smiled at the blonde's bewilderment. "Muggle thing. Come on, I want to go to the village."

They walked out of the room, Draco still muttering about 'infernal muggles' and went to the entrance hall, where Dumbledore was waiting for them.

"I've decided to take Professor Reign on a tour of Hogsmeade while you two explore the shops on your own." He explained. "I think it's best if we use one of the carriages."

Professor Reign came down the marble staircase in a relatively normal outfit, a leather jacket over a royal blue tank top and black jeans.

The quartet piled into the carriage and off they went. The journey there was short and silent. Professor Dumbledore attempted several times to make conversation but the boys answered with monosyllable responses.

The carriage stopped at the gates that introduced Hogsmeade. Dumbledore got out first, as he was closest to the door, followed by Professor Reign and then the boys.

"We were planning to stay until the afternoon, so if you meet us here at around four we will all go back up to the castle. Remember, talk it out or I will have to go to extreme measures." said Professor Reign.

The boys mumbled their replies and went into the Three Broomsticks for a drink. They go a table at the back and sat silently for a few minutes.

"Ok. This is never going to work if we don't talk. If you're still mad at me because we had a fight then I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I was just trying to get you off of me." Harry finally said.

Draco looked up from his cherry syrup and soda with ice. He never expected Harry apologize first.

"Well, I guess I'm sorry for overreacting and starting the whole thing. I'm still a little mad at Moody for doing that to me." Draco replied slowly.

Harry smiled, "See, that wasn't so hard." He thought about a mutual subject they could both relate to and settled on Quiddich. He began a conversation about his favorite team and Draco, obviously appalled by his choice tried to explain to him why they were the worst team ever. The conversation wasn't the friendliest but, hey, what could you expect from two former rivals.

The boys spent the day exploring the shops, going into Honeydukes and Zonko's Joke shop, which was reopened under the name Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The shop was run by a blonde girl in her late teens and it had all of Fred and George's latest pranks.

It was already lunchtime and the two boys decided to go to the Three Broomsticks again to eat. The topic of conversation was clothes and Draco was currently insulting Harry's unique ensemble of patched up jeans and orange T-shirt.

"I know that the muggles in America think it's the newest thing since sliced bread to look like they just crawled out of a garbage bin but that doesn't mean that a well bred wizard such as you should lower yourself to their standards." Draco said.

"For your information I did not crawl out of a garbage bin, I just put on the first thing that I found. Unlike you, I don need to carefully select each item of clothing. What the heck is this anyway?" Harry asked, feeling the fabric of Draco's shirt with his fingers. Draco shuddered under the touch but replied in his usual snarky manner.

"Its spider silk, you oddity of nature. And stop touching it, it's very expensive. I don't need your dirty fingers wreaking my clothes." Draco replied.

A day with Draco and Harry was already used to his insults. He brushed the insult aside and laughed at Draco, he knew that the blonde hated when he laughed at him.

"What is wrong with you? Why do you laugh at everything I say? It's infuriating you know." Draco said calmly.

"Why would anybody wear a shirt made of spider excretions?" Harry asked.

Draco smiled at the comment. "It doesn't have anything to do with spiders, actually, it's just called that because spider webs are really fine and the material for this shirt is the same. I don't know who came up with the name."

"Maybe they were really drunk." Harry thought out loud. Draco looked at him and saw that the boy's eyes were bloodshot.

"You have had one too many butterbeers." Draco said to the younger boy. "I think it's time to go get some fresh air."

Harry and Draco finished their meal and went back outside just as the two Heads were coming in. The boys waved at them and left the pub.

Harry was walking slightly crooked but he tried to not let it show. Draco laughed at the other boys antics.

The two boys were rudely interrupted by an odd squelching noise in the alley behind the Three Broomsticks. They looked at one another and silently went to get a better look. What they saw was a group of about five men, dressed in dark clothing, standing over the figure of a blonde boy who was lying on the ground. Harry saw a wound on the boy's neck that was slowly oozing out blood.

All logical though left his mind as he walked into the alley and crouched closer to the boy. The men stared incredulously at Harry and then at Draco who came into the alley after realizing what Harry had done. Harry stared at the wound, it was made by fangs.

"You killed him." He said, his voice rising. Draco stood behind him, his wand raised at the vampires.

"Yes, the little bastard thought he could control us. We are creatures of the night! Nobody controls us. He paid dearly for his mistake. And you shall now pay for your interference." said a tall, dark haired man. He bared his fangs and walked towards Harry.

"_Stupefy_!" Draco yelled at the vampire. A burst of red light came out of his wand but the vampire simply put up his hand and the spell vanished, leaving the target unharmed.

"Silly child, your magic doesn't work on immortals such as us." the vampire said, smiling at Draco.

Draco could only watch helplessly as the vampire walked up to Harry and lifted up his head.

"NOO!" Draco yelled and ran to the raven boy. But his attempts to help Harry were stopped when two of the other vampires grabbed his arms and held him still. None of what Professor Reign had taught them was good for this kind of fight.

The vampire smirked and lowered his mouth to Harry's throat. Harry stayed perfectly still, his eyes unfocused, as if he had been hypnotized. A small gasp was heard and his eyes fully closed. Draco could not see the vampires face but he knew that the bastard had bitten Harry.

A loud bang came from behind them, startling the vampires who were holding Draco, which gave him the slack to kick the one on his left and freeing his hand, which he used to punch the vampire on his left.

Someone jumped from the roof of the pub and landed in the alley with perfect cat-like grace. It was a girl with a long sharp-looking sword. The vampires obviously figured that she was the bigger threat and attacked her. She swung the sword with perfect aim and hacked of the head of the first vampire who came at her.

Draco tore his gaze away from the girl and ran to Harry and the vampire currently sucking out his blood, the vampire was oblivious to what was happening around him. Draco collided with the two and brought them down to the ground. The vampire hissed at Draco, blood pouring down his chin. The girl ran over to him and promptly chopped off his head. It landed a few feet away from Harry with a loud thump. The vampires face forever contorted into a snarl.

The girl was attacked by the remaining two vampires, one wielding a long knife.

Draco returned his attention to Harry. He was lying unconscious on his left side. The right side of his neck was a bloody mess. He came to with a gasp and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Draco crawled over to him and cradled his head in his lap. Harry was shaking uncontrollably and his eyes were rolled into the back of his head. Draco was having trouble holding him still.

"Harry! Harry, look at me!" Draco yelled. Harry was beginning to hyperventilate, taking deep uneven breaths.

"Harry! Look at me, you have to breathe! Calm down, and breathe." Draco said, tears almost coming to his eyes. Nothing seemed to work.

"Raven!" he yelled. Harry reacted to that. He looked at Draco but his breathing didn't improve.

"Raven, you have to calm down. Take deep, even breaths." Draco instructed. Harry calmed down, his breathing regulated but he still shook. His eyes started to droop and he was soon unconscious. Draco yelled something inaudible, but Harry lay limply in his arms.

The girl who had killed the vampires came over to the blonde boy, who was the reason Harry got himself into this mess, and checked for a pulse. She cursed loudly and wiped her bloodstained hand on the boy's shirt.

She walked over to Draco and Harry and checked on the wound in his neck.

"Apply pressure to the wound." She said calmly. Draco looked at her, shock was setting in. No, now is not the time to panic, he told himself.

He stripped of his shirt and ripped a sleeve off. He wadded it up and put it to the wound at Harry's neck. The girl put her hand on the makeshift bandage and looked at Draco.

"You have to go get help. Can you do that? I'll stay here until you come back." She told him. Draco could only nod numbly. He got up and ran to the Three Broomsticks. He found Professor Dumbledore and ran to his table. Dumbledore must have seen the blood on Draco's chest because he instantly got up and met him halfway across the room.

Draco ran back outside, quickly followed by Dumbledore and Professor Reign. Dumbledore ran to Harry's side and inspected the damage. The girl looked at Draco and backed away from the scene.

Dumbledore somehow managed to lift Harry into his arms, and carry him to the carriage. Draco took the remainder of his shirt and ran after them. The carriage ride was slower than Draco remembered it being. He used his shirt to re-apply the bandage, the other one was soaked in blood.

Draco was questioned by Professor Reign. He told her everything he remembered. When he came to the part where the girl told him what to do he realized that she as gone. He vaguely wondered what happened to her but was more concerned with Harry to care.

The carriage finally stopped and this time it was Professor Reign that lifted Harry and carried him to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was summoned and she quickly performed her healing magic. She bandaged Harry and told Draco to take a seat on one of the hospital beds.

She checked his wounds, mostly bruises and scratches, and told him that he was fine. When questioned about Harry's health she pursed her lips and said "Only time will tell."

End Chapter 6

TBC

(AN: Ok, yeah, I know, I haven't updated for 2 weeks, but I can explain. See, the reason the updates were so frequent back then was because there was a teachers strike, so I could happily write all day, but now stupid school is back in session and I have too many things to do, Homework, after school stuff, plus I'm injured! But this chapter is 10 pages long so HA! Please review, thanks.)


	8. Chapter 7 Land of Confusion

AN: for all he people who have been asking me where the actual Draco/Harry stuff comes in… here you go. This is the beginning of their odd relationship, but I must disappoint you with the news that this was an accident. They are not getting together like BOOM. A relationship such as theirs takes time to develop. OK so here we GO:

* * *

Chapter 7 -

Harry Potter opened his eyes to the bare, white walls of the Hospital Wing. At first he couldn't remember what had happened to him, but then it all came to him in a blur of motion and colour. The vampire coming towards him, the bite and then someone colliding with him and the rest was darkness.

He found that his voice was too parched to talk and he motioned for the jug of water that stood beside his bed.

A slender pale hand reached for the jug and it poured him a cup. Harry stared at the hand, and then his eyes moved up the arm and looked into the stormy eyes of Draco Malfoy. He handed Harry the cup and helped him sit up so he could drink it.

Harry took a few gulps and coughed from the disuse of his throat. He put the glass down on the bed stand and looked over at the insanely blonde boy sitting on his bed.

"Can you turn off the lights? Your hair is hurting my eyes." Harry said, and then laughed at the look on Draco's face. The Slytherin grudgingly complied and hit the switch beside the door. The room was suddenly plunged into the darkness, the only light coming from the moonlight that came through the window behind the bed. Harry smiled gratefully and patted the bed beside him. Draco sat down and stared at him.

"How long was I out for?" Harry asked, subconsciously reaching up to rub the bandage on his neck.

"About three days." Draco said just as Madam Pomfrey walked into the room and almost fainted at the sight of Harry awake. She bustled over to him and started to poke and prod at him with her wand.

"Now, now, Mr. Potter, you gave us quite the scare. I was ready enough to leave you for dead. Thank god Mr. Malfoy got to you just in time, one more drop of blood and you would be in a coffin instead of a bed." she muttered loudly.

"Umm… Madam Pomfrey? Am I a vampire?" Harry asked, suddenly realizing what really happened.

"I'm not a vampire expert Mr. Potter, I really cannot tell you." She replied sombrely.

The door to the Hospital Wing banged open and Professor Reign and Professor Dumbledore walked into the room, closely followed by what seemed to be half the teachers at Hogwarts.

"Oh, thank the gods you're all right!" Professor Reign said, running to the bed and hugging Harry.

"Good to see you're up Harry." Dumbledore said heartily, pointing his wand at the light. It came back on, but not as strong as before. Harry winced and Dumbledore lowered the light once again, so that the room was engulfed in a soft yellow glow. "Madam Pomfrey worked very hard in keeping you alive."

Harry turned gratefully to the nurse and smiled. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. This isn't the first time you've saved my life. Where would I be without you?" he said.

"You'd be dead," she stated simply. "But not all the credit goes to me this time. You can thank Mr. Malfoy for saving your life. If he hadn't stopped that overgrown mosquito from draining you dry, you would be a shrivelled up prune right about now."

Dumbledore cringed at the mental image of that, but smiled so as not to alarm Harry. "I hope you will be able to continue training soon, you've missed a whole three days of practice. The both of you need to catch up." he said.

"Surely a few missed days of practice will not make that big of an impact." chirped tiny Professor Flitwick.

"It won't be that bad. We'll just have to work harder to catch up." said Professor Reign.

Harry grimaced at the though of making the practices any harder than they already were. Draco was obviously on the same train of thought considering his facial expressions.

"Professor Dumbledore? Am I really a vampire now?" Harry asked his Headmaster.

To Harry's surprise it was Professor Snape (who Harry had not even seen since last year) who answered.

"No Potter," he said in his usual deep drawling voice. "you are not a vampire. To become a vampire you must drink the blood of the undead. It is a complex ritual and could not have been performed within the time you were given. Becoming a vampire takes time and preparation. Only the most gifted can survive the ritual and become powerful enough to live. You were merely an appetizer, nothing more."

Harry let the insult slide. He wasn't a vampire! Just that thought alone made him very happy indeed.

A long silence followed Professor Snape's speech. Everyone was quietly celebrating the survival of the boy-who-lived.

"I insist that you all leave Mr. Potter to heal and get better before his lesson tomorrow morning. He does not need all this excitement lest he overexerts himself." Madam Pomfrey said in a commanding tone. But it was plain to see that she was happy that her patient would not become fanged for life. The Professors all walked out of the Hospital Wing, although Professor Reign stayed for a second to give Harry another hug and tell him to get better. Dumbledore killed the light completely and Harry smiled at him gratefully. Draco stayed sitting on the bed but Madam Pomfrey did not complain. It seemed that his valiant efforts to save Harry's life had softened her up a bit. After all, Harry was her most frequent patient.

Draco sat there and examined the boy-who-bloody-would-not-die. He looked rather pale, it was understandable considering he had just gotten his blood sucked out through his throat. But he had also changed a lot over the last few weeks. The training and practices had made him stronger, more muscled. Draco looked into his emerald eyes for a second but had to look away, lest he drown in the emerald pools.

"Thank you." Harry said quietly. He didn't remember much about what happened but he vaguely recalled a memory of Draco holding him in his arms. It was a very pleasant memory, considering that Draco was one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen, albeit a complete arse.

"Yeah." Draco said breathlessly. Hoping Harry wouldn't notice his loss of breath. It only happened in his presence.

"What exactly happened?"

"Well it's all kind of blurry." Draco said, grateful for the change in subject, Malfoy's simply did not _do_ mushy thank you scenes. "I remember you yelling at the vampires because they killed that guy and then when he bit you, two vampires grabbed my arms and I was screaming for help. Then, this girl jumps off the roof and starts to fight the vampires. So they sort of got distracted and then I broke free and tackled you and the vamp that was attached to your neck. Then the vamp got his head chopped off and the rest of them started to fight the girl. She held them off pretty well, so I got to you and you were shaking like mad. You just wouldn't stop. It was so damn scary. You finally stopped shaking and then, when the girl finished killing all the vamps, I went to go find Dumbledore… and the rest is history." Draco said, lost in memory. It was a pretty watered down version of the events but satisfactory for Harry.

Harry tried to remember these things but only saw Draco in his mind. He didn't remember anything except for him.

He looked at the blonde again and found him staring back at him. Draco blushed and looked away.

"I…" he stared to say, but Harry, on a moment of impulse, had leaned over to him. Draco, who had turned back to Harry to complete his sentence, was met with the piecing green eyes of the Boy Who Lived.

Draco lost all thought of what he was going to say. It was like Harry held all the answers to his heart. He was so captivated by the moment that he didn't even realize when his lips captured Harry's mouth in a tentative kiss.

At first Harry didn't respond, but after getting over his primary shock, Harry responded by leaning into the kiss and wrapping one hand around Draco's waist. They parted for a second and Harry was met with slightly confused grey eyes.

"Oh god." was all he said. Draco's eyes widened to the size of saucers and he jumped off the bed as if a fire was lit up under his arse.

"Oh, god, no!" he said loudly. Harry was sitting calmly on the bed, watching the blonde backing farther and farther away. The same words repeated over and over, he finally turned and ran out of the room.

Harry wrinkled up his eyebrows and tried to process what just happened. Draco Malfoy just kissed him. It took a few seconds to fully sink in and when it did he fell back on the pillows and groaned.

Malfoy was never going to let him live this one down. Yes, it had been the blonde who had initiated the kiss, but knowing the conniving little brat, he would make up some ridiculous story about how Harry had held him down with force and ravished him on the Hospital bed.

His friends would never look at him the same. He could just see it now, the expression on Ron's face, and Hermione's disapproving voice.

What had amazed him the most was that he had actually enjoyed it and kissed him back. Why would he do that? He had hated Draco ever since their first encounter and all through their Hogwarts years. What had changed him? Was it spending so much time with the blonde? He had to admit, Draco had changed. Maybe even for the better. He seemed more accepting somehow. Or maybe it was just that Harry had been spending too much time around the cynical Slytherin and was now used to the insults and taunting.

Whatever it was, he realised that he almost enjoyed the blonde's company, probably because there was nobody else his age around, he told himself. He dreaded the prospect of having to practice with him tomorrow. He would probably make cruel jokes about how queer Harry was, and what a fruitcake he had been last night.

Draco ran up to his bedroom in the north tower. He had just kissed Harry Fucking Potter. He collapsed on his stomach on his four poster bed. Burying his face in the pillows he began to cry silently. Harry would spread this around and soon the tale of his foolishness would be spread through the school like wildfire. And soon enough it would travel all the way to his father.

His father: the cause for his misery. All his life his father told him that he wasn't good enough or that he was a worthless piece of shit.

Or he punished him. He made Draco pay for all of his mistakes, in the worst way.

The minute his father got out of Azkaban, and he was sure that it would be soon, he would come and find Draco and punish him yet again.

And his father's wrath was nothing to laugh at.

Maybe this time, he'll just kill me, Draco thought miserably. Maybe he'll put me out of my misery.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, the silent tears leaving salty tracks dawn his face.

But he kissed Harry Potter. He had to smile at that. He had wanted to do that for the better part of the last two years. His hand came up to his face and he traced his lips with one finger, remembering the feel of Harry's soft pink lips on his. He tasted slightly like chocolate and saliva. Draco's hand fluttered its way down his neck and then his chest and stomach, slowly making its way to its destination. He smiled again at the thought of Harry's kiss as his hand slipped past the waistline of his pants.

* * *

END CHAPTER

This one was rather short… Ok, next chapter: Harry and Draco have their exam and finally leave for Monty's, where they meet a strange group of people.

Please review.


	9. Chapter 8 Behind the Pig Jar

Sorry for the wait everyone.

Disclaimer: not mine, although Charlie is.

Ok, and this is something I should have done chapters ago:

Thanks to Shania Maxwell, Eve Granger, and Draeconin for being my most constant reviewers. Also a big thanks to Maria for correcting my spelling and grammar, although this chapter wouldn't work for some reason. And to Queen Rasputin and Auriel Dresden. You guy's rock my striped socks.

I promised that this chapter Harry and Draco would finally leave but things took an unexpected turn while writing. Please bare with me people I think they will finally depart in 2 chapters. And people have been telling me I move to fast so... I slowed down.

Happy new years and please don't drink and drive.

* * *

Chapter 8

Harry awoke with a feeling akin to dread in his stomach. It took him a while to fully register everything around him. He was still in the hospital wing, but Madame Pomfrey had promised him that he could leave this morning. Harry spent the next few minutes doing his usual morning routine, first he did his cat stretch, he extended his arms above his head and he pulled his legs to the other end. This really did look remarkably like a cat stretching so Ron had dubbed it the Harry Cat Stretch. Then he sat up and, starting with his jaw, began to crack ever joint that he could, including hips, knees, elbows, fingers and toes.

Madame Pomfrey walked in later on and began her usual examination of her sole patient. She used her wand like an antenna, which she pointed sideways over Harry's body, and starting from his toes made her way up his body. The wand made little beeping noises every once in a while and every time this happened Madame Pomfrey would make a note on her clipboard.

She finished with this and gave Harry a small round bottle and told him to take a teaspoon full every day at noon for three days. Then she went back to her office, closing the curtain to give Harry privacy to change.

Harry quickly changed and went up to the training room to find that Draco had already started his running and Professor Reign was setting up the mats for their next Hand to Hand lesson. She smiled and told him to hurry up and get ready. Harry went into the change room to find his running clothes and he quickly slipped into them and went back into the training room. Professor Reign had finished with the mats and was now reading a book by the window.

"You only have to do one lap around the lake. We need to get started on the training, so don't waste too much time." She said to him.

Harry nodded and ran to the edge of the lake. He was just in time to see Draco start his second lap. He ran to catch up to him but thought better of invoking conversation. He stayed a few paces behind him and the two boys ran in silence for the rest of the run.

They both ran up to the training room where the mats were placed on the floor to make sure that the boys would not sustain injury if they fell. They changed into the maroon uniforms and stared the first moves that Professor Reign had taught them. They moved on to the more challenging ones while Professor Reign walked between them and corrected them on posture and force. When they had finished that, Professor Reign told them that she would be teaching them how to do falls and rolls today. That is what the mats were for. They began really easy, just simple rolls, but soon began to do things like how far can you roll or how high. Professor Reign put up a sort of barrier for them, it was about waist height and it was made of a foamy material so that if they crashed into it, it wouldn't hurt. The goal was to jump over it and roll on the mat on the other side.

Needless to say, the first few times they tried it the barrier fell. But soon the boys got the hang of it and were seeing how high they could really jump.

Professor Reign sighed at the typical male behaviour and told them to go to lunch before they hurt themselves.

The training had effectively erased all memory of the kiss from Draco's mind. But now that his brain had time to relax he couldn't think of what to say to Harry. How do you act after you kissed someone that you were supposed to hate? He wanted to ask Harry if he'd told anyone, but he knew that if he did that then he would spread it around just to spite him. So the best thing to do was absolutely nothing, and to wait and see how it all pans out.

Harry, however looked at Draco nervously and waited for him to say some scathing remark about him, but as much as he waited, Draco stayed quiet. He doesn't even look at me, Harry thought miserably. Maybe I should say something.

Just as Harry mustered up the courage to say something Draco slammed shut his locker and walked past him to the hallway. Harry sighed and sat down in the empty locker room. He was wearing his usual grungy pants but he had yet to put a shirt on.

He had no one to go to for relationship help. Hermione was off in France with her parents and Ron was as clueless as him. Plus, what would he say? _Hey, you guys, what do you do after you accidentally kiss Draco Malfoy_? That wouldn't go over well.

Just as Harry was about to pull on his shirt he saw an owl at the window. It was the strangest bird he had ever seen. Instead of it being some normal colour like brown or grey, it was a bright purple. He opened the window cautiously and took the letter off of the bird. The owl immediately took off and Harry was left standing with the letter.

_Raven_

_Hogwarts School _

_England_

Harry looked at it curiously. Only two people knew about his name change, Professor Reign and Draco, and none of them needed to send him a letter, as he was right here with them.

He opened it warily, expecting it to blow up, but it was a normal letter, no hexes or jinxes were placed on it.

_Raven, _

_You probably don't remember me; I was the girl you met at the cemetery when you were looking for your parents. I know this sounds really strange but you must believe me. Four days ago when you were attacked by that vampire and I saved you they called blood claim. You probably don't know anything when it comes to vampires so let me explain. Blood claim is a vampires' screwed up way of getting what it wants. More specifically, if a vampire claims blood on a certain person only that vampire can kill the one it claims. Since your brave friend was the one who saved your life, the head of the vampire kiss I killed has called blood claim on him. This means that Draco now belongs to the head vampire. Only the head vampire can kill or hurt him. But since I learned of this fact right after it was claimed I called ownership of Draco and therefore of you. You see, when someone saves your life you owe them a life debt. So in a really perverse turn of events you belong to Draco Malfoy and he belongs to me. Please don't hate me; this was the only way I could save his life. Because now, if the head of the vampires wants to kill, hurt or in any way claim Draco he has to go through me first. And I can assure you, I'm very hard to kill-_

Here the letter was cut off. It looked like the page had been ripped in half. The whole thing was written very quickly, judging from the messiness of the scrawl and in some places there were large splats of water, as if the girl had been in a heavy rainfall.

Harry put the letter down on the window sill and stared at the writing. The whole thing was completely ridiculous of course. He was more confused now then if Dumbledore had asked him for ideas on global domination.

Blood claims and vampires, things he had never even heard of before. Yet here was a letter that claimed that these things were happening. Maybe it was all a hoax, maybe Draco was having a good laugh at him right about now. Harry thought a while about what to do. He could go to Dumbledore and show him the letter, or he could put it at the bottom of his trunk and forget that he ever received it. Dumbledore would probably tell him that he was being ridiculous and that it was just someone having a good laugh at him. But that didn't explain the girl that was in the cemetery, or the drawing he had received, or the girl who had killed the vampires at Hogsmeade.

Harry had forgotten that these things had happened but once reading the letter his memories came flooding back to him.

"_I'm not lying." _She had said. Harry only now realized that those words have been in his dreams ever since his encounter with the girl. But just as dreams tend to do, they slipped away like water through cupped hands the minute he woke up.

Harry decided that the letter should not be shown to Dumbledore, he wouldn't believe him if he told him about the mysterious girl that keeps on helping yet disappearing the minute someone looks too closely. But Draco had seen her, Harry remembered suddenly. He had said something about a girl who had fought the vampires when they attacked. This only proved Harry right in thinking that she was not his hallucination. It wasn't possible for both Draco and him to have the same visions. She was real, but if Harry told Dumbledore about all of this, the headmaster would deem her 'dark' and he would never find out who she is, and if what she said about his parents was true.

Harry pulled on his shirt and robes and put the letter in an inner pocket to keep it safe from prying eyes. He then put his things back into his locker and went to the great hall for lunch.

The rest of the day went by quickly, they learned more about fighting with swords in Weapons practice and the day was almost over before Harry even had time to think about the letter that was now tucked safely in between the pages of his potions text.

At the end of the day Professor Reign asked them to come to her office at nine to discuss their admission test into Monty's and to go into a bit more detail about the school. They would be leaving in three weeks and the test was in two.

After Dinner the boys changed into their normal Hogwarts clothes and went on to do their various activities. Draco went to the library to read a book and Harry went to go find Professor McGonagall to ask her if she needed any help with marking and such things. He did this on his free afternoons. It was a chance to free his mind and at the same time improve his relationship with his head of house. Who knows, maybe next time he's caught wandering the halls after hours she won't take house points. Then again, knowing her, maybe not.

He walked into Professor McGonagall's office to find that she was in a heated discussion with Professor Snape. He was about to leave them and find something else to do when Professor McGonagall slammed the book she was holding on the table and looked over at Harry. This caused Professor Snape to look over as well. He had a look of utmost hate in his eyes. Harry returned the gaze, they had played this game many times before in his classes.

"Potter, stay. There may be something I will need from you." Professor McGonagall said to him.

"Why is that insolent brat here?" Snape spat viciously.

"The 'insolent brat' is the sole reason that I have all my marking done in the middle of the holidays. He has shamelessly given up his free evenings to help me with my corrections. You, on the other hand, have not even gotten through a third of your marking. Maybe you would like to borrow my 'insolent brat' for an evening. Who knows maybe next he'll be teaching your classes." She said to the Potions Master.

Snape turned a paint shade of pink at the thought of anyone, let alone Harry Potter, teaching _his_ classes. It was the first time Harry had ever seen his Potions teacher blush and the sight brought a smile to his lips.

Professor McGonagall took the smile as encouragement and promptly told Harry that 'Severus will meet you in his office.' Harry's eyes widened at this and he opened his mouth to object, but Snape beat him to it.

"WHAT?" he yelled.

"Well, you _do_ need to get that marking done, and Harry is really good at it. Plus he got an Exceeds Expectations on his OWL's, I'm sure that it would suffice for your first years." She replied calmly.

Snape was shaking with rage when he spoke his next words.

"If this is another one of your foolish games to turn me and _that boy_ into lifelong friends you are severely mistaken Minerva. Do you remember when you manipulated Black into being 'friends' with me? Tell me, Minerva, how did that work out?" He asked ferally.

"I am not manipulating you into anything. Just be nice to the boy and you may find that he has a personality. People are not cardboard Severus, and therefore should not be treated as such." She retorted just as angrily.

This was obviously the end of the argument as Professor McGonagall picked up the book she had slammed and walked out of her very own office.

Harry stood very still so as not to alarm Professor Snape, the raging thundercloud, of his presence. He did not want all that anger to be targeted at him. What he did not understand was what he had done to Professor McGonagall to deserve such severe punishment. What Harry did not realize was that it wasn't him being punished but Professor Snape. It had takes years for Minerva McGonagall to break through Snape's icy exterior to find the real human being inside.

They had spent many an evening together, just drinking wine and talking about the hardships of teaching. Minerva realized that there really was a softer side to Snape. But years of pain and loss had taught him to hide that side and only show the gruff exterior to the world. He was the school's most hated teacher, the evil Professor Snape, the man who would make girls, and even on a few rare occasions, boys cry in class. But at times, such as the aforementioned evenings, Minerva broke through the ice to find the warmth inside, and as much as she hated to admit it, Severus Snape was a rather interesting man.

Today, however, the day had begun in an unpleasantly horrible manner. Minerva was awoken by a loud screech coming from outside her window. The screech was rather persistent, no matter how much Minerva tried to ignore it, it wailed on. Finally, at five in the morning, Minerva dragged herself out of bed to investigate the source of the screech. It was coming from her window, and when looking outside she saw the night sky and the fields of grass and forest before her. Hagrid's hut was standing at the edge of the wood, giving her a view of everything that happened at the cabin. And what was in the cabin now was the origin of the screech. Minerva gave an impatient sigh and got on her dressing gown and slippers.

The screech, she found out, was a Lacerta Gryphus, a rare type of animal that was bred especially for its poison. Hagrid had purchased the thing from a man in Australia. Since Hagrid was on a mission for the Order, the animal was shipped by owl to his hut, but due to the fact that no one was here to feed the thing it was screeching for attention.

Minerva had absolutely no idea what to give the animal. It was an odd mix of bird and lizard, with sharp pointy fangs. She finally found some mice in the mouse trap and put them into the cage of the Lacerta. She watched in horrified fascination as the thing tore the mice into pieces and swallowed them in big gulps. It was utterly savage and she wished to see no more of it.

She went back up to her bedroom at seven in the morning. The sun was already beginning to rise. The day had not started good. She decided to skip an attempt at more sleep and went straight to breakfast, where she found a moody and rather snappish Draco Malfoy. This in no way improved her mood and she went on to her first errand of the day. The day progressed into more misery when she found out that Hagrid would not be back for another fortnight and thus she would have to feed his Lacerta until his arrival.

So you can see why Minerva McGonagall was in no mood for Snape's usual surly, ill-humoured self. He began his usual tirade about not having enough time to do all of his marking and Minerva simply lost it and began to chastise him for not managing his time. So when Harry came in to help her with her marking she got the brilliant idea of sending him to help Severus. It would serve the man right for leaving his work till the last minute.

She knew all too well how much Severus Snape hated James's son and it would be the perfect punishment to place him in the presence of the boy-who-lived. She wished no ill on the raven haired boy, but in any case, Snape could not do anything too bad during the holidays. After all, house points were not working and he couldn't give him detention.

After a few seconds of trying to get his temper in control Severus Snape took a deep breath and looked over at the brat-who-made-his-life-miserable. The boy was looking scared enough to piss himself and Severus almost laughed at the idea. How could this puny little boy have been able to defeat the darkest wizard of all time?

He smirked at the terrified look on his face and walked past him into the hallway.

"Well, Potter? Are you coming, or not?" he asked. He was no longer mad. Severus Snape was very talented at controlling his emotions.

"Yes, sir." Harry replied quickly, following the potions master down the stairs to the dungeons. Snape's cloak was billowing behind him like the wings of an enormous bat.

A few minutes later Harry found himself in the office of his least favourite Hogwarts professor. The place had an air of negligence and disuse, as if whoever worked here never bothered to clean. It was generally tidy but a thick layer of dust covered every surface except the large mahogany desk sitting in the far corner. It was littered with scrolls of paper and broken quills. The walls were covered by ceiling to floor shelves, upon which stood jars with a manner of disgusting things in odd coloured liquids. There was a small straight back chair sitting beside the desk, and a few empty crates in a far corner, and, as usual, the mandatory fireplace that was in every room of the castle.

Professor Snape pointed his wand to the fireplace and muttered _incendio._ A roaring fire suddenly appeared as if it has been burning for hours.

"Sit." Snape said.

Harry promptly fell into the chair beside the desk. It was the most uncomfortable chair he had ever sat in. It's the kind that you see in torture champers in old books. Harry nervously watched as Snape glided across the room to sit in the great cushioned chair behind the desk. He shifted a few piles of scrolls and finally settled on one particularly large pile. It was tied with a black ribbon and was marked 'third years' on the top. Snape slammed the pile in front of Harry, who jumped and gasped at the sudden sound.

"This is an essay on the Shrinking Solution. You have to make sure that the student listed _all_ of the ingredients and then _fully_ explained the effects of this potion. If you detect any grammatical errors you will correct them. Is that understood?" Snape said calmly.

"Yes sir." Harry replied hesitantly. Snape put a bottle of red ink in front of Harry and handed him a quill.

"Get to work then."

Harry sighed and then realized that he had no idea what the ingredients in a Shrinking Solution are.

"Er, Professor Snape?" Harry said anxiously. Snape looked up from the pile he was going through. "I don't really remember what goes into a Shrinking Solution." Harry finished, he closed his eyes, getting ready for the outburst.

"I see that you have learned nothing from my class." Snape said calmly. "Completely understandable, considering your lack of concentration and brain power."

Harry pursed his lips to keep from retorting. At least he wasn't yelling, he told himself. Snape gave him a piece of parchment with the list of ingredients and the effects. Harry took it and began on his first essay.

Hours passed and Harry had finished the third years and the second years essays. It was already eight thirty and Harry was twisting and fidgeting in his uncomfortable chair. The hard wooden back was giving him a neck ache and he really wanted to move around. Suddenly Snape got up and went over to one of the shelves. He moved over a few of the jars and reached in behind them to grab a small textbook that looked very old. It was falling apart and the pages were yellow and it had a burn on the front cover.

"I trust that when I get back there will not be a crater in the place of my office." Snape said suddenly, and with the swish of fabric went out the door.

Harry got up and began to do some stretches, he was really sore from sitting in the same position for hours at a time. He began to rotate his neck to get the kinks out of his back when he caught sight of another textbook behind the jar that Snape had not moved back into place.

This one was much larger but in the same condition as the last. It was poking out behind a jar of what looked like a baby pig in thick yellow liquid. Harry walked closer to the shelf, making sure not to touch anything. Knowing Snape, he probably had a security system on his office.

Harry got close enough to see the title. It was written in old English calligraphy and was slightly peeling off.

_Vampires_

Harry stared at the title for a few seconds. Snape? Could he be…? No, it was impossible; Harry had seen the Potions Master in full daylight a hundred times. And Dumbledore would never let a vampire teach potions! Of course he let Lupin teach Defence against the Dark Arts, but this was different. Or was it? Maybe this is the reason why Dumbledore always trusted Snape. Maybe because Dumbledore knew that Snape would do anything to keep his secret hidden. Maybe this is the reason why Snape is so useful.

There were a lot of variables but certain things started to make sense now. Snape would never eat with them at Grimmauld Place, and he always wore those long black cloaks.

There was only one way to find out. Harry grabbed the book and tugged. No alarms or lights went off so Harry went on to heave the enormous book towards the desk. He opened it to the first page and began to read.

_A **vampire** is a mythical or folkloric creature said to subsist on human and/or animal blood often having magical powers and the ability to transform. Usually the vampire is the corpse of a dead person, reanimated or made undead by one means or another. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as demons or animals like bats, dogs, and spiders. Vampires are often described as having a wide variety of additional powers and character traits, extremely variable in different traditions, and are a frequent subject of folklore. _

_This is what any standard muggle would tell you. Here we unlock the truth about vampirism. A vampire is known to drink the blood of a human, although vampires can also drink the blood of animals. The real version is that a Vampire can drain any type of energy, or heme as we call it. Heme can come in the form of blood or magic. Since muggles have a limited amount of magic the root of their so called 'vampires' came from blood letting. _

_There are many different types of vampires, just like wizards, vampires have a diverse culture, although the rules are the same for everyone. Vampires are known for their amazing ability to live forever. They have reached true immortality. However, we cannot call it true immortality, as a vampire can be killed. There are many ways to destroy a vampire, but first let us look at the origin of the vampire…_

A loud bang came from the stairs and Harry quickly slammed the book shut and ran to put it back into place. He made sure that it looked the exact same as he left it and ran back to jump into the uncomfortable chair to make it look like he had been working.

Severus Snape walked into the office and looked accusingly at Harry. He walked to his desk and took the pile of papers from Harry.

"Professor Reign asked me to inform you that you had an appointment with her at nine." Snape said silkily. Harry looked down at his watch. It was a quarter after nine. He jumped up and ran to the door.

"Potter," Snape called after him, "tomorrow evening at the same time."

"Right." Harry said before running out of the office at least forty flights of stairs to get to Professor Reign's office.

Harry walked in, panting and heaving. He stopped by the desk and collapsed into a much more comfortable chair than the one he had just left. Professor Reign waited a few minutes to let him catch him breath and them smiled as she said "you're late."

Harry rolled his eyes and sat back in the chair still breathing deeply but now able to speak.

"Yeah, I've decided to add chronic lateness to my repertoire." he said sarcastically. Harry heard a chuckle from his left and looked to see Draco already in the chair next to his. He looked at the boy, opened his mouth, but then thought better of talking and closed it again.

Professor Reign sensed a bit of tension between the boys since the early morning but decided to stay quiet and see if they could work it out.

"Alright, I'm going to tell you the things you need to know to pass your admission test and, more importantly, survive in my school. Now, the admission test has four parts: a written part, which you will be studying for in the next few weeks, and the Hand to Hand, Weapons and Sparring tests.

"Now, the written part is rather easy to pass, and if you listened to all my explanations of the Hand to Hand techniques then you'll do fine. I will give you both the standard textbook from which you will have to study, but it will suffice to simply read it and take notes. The Hand to Hand and Weapons tests you will both do fine on. Your work in practice is quite advanced. Although this does not mean you will slack off during the next two weeks. We still have quite a lot of material to get through, but I'm sure that you will pass with an Exceeds Expectations or more.

"The only thing I'm truly worried about is your sparring. We only did one supervised sparring match and it ended disastrously. We will try this again during the next few weeks, and this time, let's try to be a bit more careful." Professor Reign explained to the two boys.

"How can you be so confident that we will pass when just days ago we were put in a compromising situation and I couldn't even fight off two measly vampires?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I remember the vampire attack, Draco, but you only had the beginning of a long education in the fighting arts. And vampires are not the easiest of opponents. Some vampires are vicious creatures, plus their added strength and immunity to pain and injury can make them quite the adversary. I was surprised that you came out of that situation with all of your body parts still intact. I once knew of a woman who hunted vampires for a living, and let me tell you, she was one of the best fighters I knew. She is currently residing in the Kentwood Psychiatric Division in Texas." Professor Reign informed him.

Draco let out a low whistle. Harry thought about this.

"You meant to tell me that if Draco hadn't intervened, I would truly be dead?" Harry asked. It was still quite a blow to think that if it want for the blonde Malfoy, he would not be sitting right here.

"Yes." Professor Reign answered warily. "In fact, I was very surprised that you did not die. Draco, you said that a young girl had jumped off the roof and helped you?"

Draco was to busy staring at Harry to answer.

"You just called me Draco. And it wasn't sarcastic." He said, awed.

Harry looked over at him and frowned.

"Yeah. I guess I did. Sorry?" he said confused. He didn't understand why it made that much of a deal.

Draco just blinked and looked back at Professor Reign. It had obviously meant something to him.

"Sorry, what were you asking?" he said.

"You said that a girl had helped you during the attack. Do you remember what she looked like?" she repeated the question.

"Er, yeah," he said, squinting and trying to picture her in his mind's eye. "She was really short, and had shoulder length white-blonde hair, a bit darker than mine. She was wearing a pair of jeans cut off at the knee and a purple tank top, with a hoodie over top. She had the biggest sword I have ever seen. It was kind of glowing too. It had these odd inscriptions at the hilt, and that's all I remember of her. It's kind of fuzzy. I can't really picture her face."

Harry sighed and looked at the desk to avoid eye contact with Professor Reign. Now, his suspicions were verified. It was the same girl. Charlie.

"Alright, well, if we ever see her again, we'll have to thank her for saving your lives." Professor Reign said.

Harry coughed to get the attention of the room and decided to change the subject before he got too uncomfortable.

"So, Professor… Tell us about Monty's." he said.

"Monty's is a very difficult school to pass. You choose the classes you want at the beginning of the year and they get put through a system to tell you the time and where to take the class. You two will most likely have almost the same classes because you're at the same level of the arts. There are four classes a day, and the days interchange, so technically you have eight classes but on separate days. You can take additional classes if you wish but make sure that you manage your time wisely. We have had a few emotional meltdowns from too much work and pressure.

"Each class is approximately an hour and twenty minutes and there is a lunch break after the first two classes, at noon. The first class starts at nine sharp and if you are not on time the doors close and you will not be able to participate. This is not something that you want to do because a lot of material gets covered in one class and you do not want to get behind.

"The whole school is situated on Hornby Island. I cannot tell you exactly where it is but it is a relatively small island and we get to have it all to ourselves. The school is on the northern side of the island and the rest of the island is a magical historical national park, which is visited frequently by the magical community. There are a few stores, shops, and markets, older students are allowed to go to these shops on the weekends or after class.

"There is also a theatre, dance club and recreation hall that are open every day. They are mostly used to perform the seasonal theatrical works that are performed by the Monty Drama Club. The dance club is open every night and is non-alcoholic. There are a few other places that you can go for fun but please consider getting your work done before running off to play.

"Monty's also offers a wide variety of clubs and groups, like the aforementioned Drama Club. You can sign up at the beginning of the year, but yet again please don't sign up for everything because time is not unlimited.

"There are no school uniforms at Monty's. We strictly believe in the freedom of expression. But there is a dress code that you must follow. Failure to comply and your privileges will be taken away. It is rather elementary, no breasts, bums, or undergarments of any kind are to be shown, and no violence, drug use or alcohol is allowed to be promoted. Although for some classes you will use your Monty's fighting uniforms, for the obvious reason that you cannot do Hand to Hand in jeans. It's simply uncomfortable.

"There is a very strict policy about violence of any kind in the halls. Monty does not judge people by their race, color, origin, nationality, or sexual orientation. In fact, Monty's has won the Acceptance Prize for the past four years. We are very accepting and multicultural.

"The both or you will be paired up with a buddy, or partner. They will spend the first few days showing you around and teaching you the ways of the school. You will have to share a room with each other but it is not uncommon for room changes if all four parties agree on the change. For example, if you want to switch rooms with Jane Doe then Draco has to accept that he will share a room with Jane Doe's roommate and everyone is happy.

"By the way, you cannot share a room with a girl, for obvious reasons. And that is about it. If you have any more questions I have these handy brochures that have all of the rules and regulations written in them. Take a look at them and make sure you understand everything." Professor Reign finally finished.

Both Harry and Draco took a brochure.

"Ok, it's almost ten o'clock. Time for bed boys, tomorrow's class is going to be tough, so get your sleep and I'll see you tomorrow." Professor Reign dismissed them and they left the class in silence.

Harry fell into bed a few minutes later, completely exhausted and having no wish to go and brush his teeth. He just couldn't get up, too many things to think about: the letter and the textbook in the potions room. Draco had confirmed that Charlie was there during the vampire attack and what if she was right? What if his parents were still alive somewhere out there?

And the textbook in Professor Snape's room? It was perfect. It answered every question that Harry had. The only way that he could read it, however, was if he was in the Potions room. This meant that Harry had to keep helping Snape with his marking in the hopes of reading some more of the book. Harry's brain was so filled with everything that he had done today he had to get it out somehow.

He grabbed a piece of parchment and began to write a letter to Ron and Hermione. Not giving away too much information, in case the owl was intercepted, but just enough so that they could give him some advice. He also wrote to Hermione about Draco, although not mentioning his name but saying that he had met a 'really great guy' but he was confused how to act.

She was sure to get back to him soon with some advice on what to do. He still had not told Ron that he was gay, and he preferred it that way. He didn't want to be impersonal and write it in a letter. If he was ever going to tell him he would say it to his face so that Ron would be able to ask him questions.

He had never been attracted to Ron. Harry had always thought of him in a very brotherly way. But Ron may not see it that way, so he wanted to explain it in full.

Harry finished the letters and tied them to Hedwig, who had finished catching her dinner of field mice and was happily ripping them to shreds in her cage. The owl was glad to finally have something to do and set off immediately. The mice bled onto the bottom of the cage and Harry stared in disgust as one of the mice twitched. He threw the mice away and cleaned out the cage with a scouring charm.

He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, thankful that Draco had finished a while ago and then fell into bed. It only took him a few seconds to be away in dreamland, although dreamland had a bit of a nasty surprise for him…

* * *

TBC

AN: there Draeconin, this one was longer. LOL.

The first part of vampire explanation came from the encyclopedia. The rest I made up.

Next chapter: a more prolonged explanation about vampires and the admissions test.


	10. Chapter 9 transition

Dedicated to Frozenrose: who inspired me to write the first part of this chapter a month ago. And to Nulla for politely telling me to get up off my lazy ass and write the rest of the chapter.

AN: sorry for the delay. and look for my other Draco/Harry fic coming soon to a fanfiction near you:D (it's called on the other side and it's a war epic. :D ps: sorry for the shameless advertisement.)

Important: The prologue has changed. Go read it because it has two very important things in it.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other things connected to Harry Potter are NOT MINE. Charlie is.

And this chapter has mention of child abuse in it. Don't like, don't read.

Chapter 9 Transition

It was nine thirty in the morning and Harry was doing his usual run around the lake. Draco was a few steps behind him. They still weren't talking about what happened in the hospital wing. It was as if it never happened, which was perfectly fine with Harry, as he really did not want to discuss the matter. In fact, Draco was unusually cruel this morning at breakfast. It was a bit sad really, Harry was finally able to stand his presence and they go and do something incredibly stupid. Now everything went back to ground zero.

Harry finished the run and went inside to start the real practice. Professor Reign started them off with the easy kicks and defenses, and then went on to rolls, and individual practice. She was working with Draco on his roundhouse kicks so Harry sat down for a bit. He was exceptionally tired today, having woken up from a horrible dream the night before. It was a rather unusual dream: Sirius and Harry's father were being killed by some unknown force. It wasn't Voldemort, just a negative energy that sucked the life out of them, like watching a dementor's kiss. Harry remembered his dream self screaming and trying to help his father and Sirius but every time he ran to them they seemed to get farther away. Then he remembered being held in someone's arms… he couldn't see who it was but they calmed him down considerably and he had a feeling of happiness being held like that. It was like the perfect peace, as if the world was caught in a moment of serenity and all that mattered was Harry and whoever was holding him. In fact, there was no scenery around him, just a blur of color and light, like floating inside a bubble of happiness.

This dream was abruptly ended by the bathroom light being turned on. Harry had forgotten to close the door and Draco had the urge for a midnight visit to the piddly diddly department. Harry angrily got up and slammed the door, but couldn't for the life of him fall back asleep. He already had trouble sleeping thanks to reoccurring nightmares about his dead family; and thanks to certain unmentioned blonde people his precious sleep was whittled down to a bare minimum. Harry spent the rest of the night lying wide awake in bed and staring at the clock while it ticked by.

The result of this _manque de sommeil_ Harry was remarkably tired. He leaned against the wall and watched Draco do his roundhouse kicks, with commentary by Professor Reign. Draco finished the kicks and took one of the towels that were hanging on the railing to dry his forehead with. He went up to Harry, who was a bit spaced out and wipped the towel at him. It hit Harry square in the bicep and he jumped with the sudden sting of it.

"Get up Potter, it's your turn." he said.

"Thanks a lot, Malfoy." Harry said sarcastically, rubbing his arm. That would leave a mark later on.

He went up to Professor Reign who was going over some notes that she took of his kicks.

"OK, Raven, I think we'll work on your back defenses." She said, putting down her clipboard and coming up behind Harry.

"I'm going to attack you from behind and you have to defend. The objective is to not end up on the ground." she said.

She then backed up a bit and all of a sudden charged at Harry. He was taken by surprise and didn't even have time to raise his arm before he realized that he was on the floor staring at the matted ground. He heard Draco's distinct laughter from the corner and his insides roared with anger.

Professor Reign got up and offered him a hand. He took it and got up, his face red with humiliation and anger.

"It's OK, I know that it's hard and you've only done two weeks of training. Under these conditions, you're one of the best I've taught." She said.

"Thanks." Harry mumbled. He didn't want the pity.

They tried again and again. Each time Harry got better but still ended up on the floor. Draco got bored of sitting and watching so he began to practice his defenses. After the vampire attack both the boys had doubled their efforts at practices. It was scary how easily they were taken out by a few vampires. In retrospect they knew nothing. Two weeks of practice had taught them the basics, but when put up against adversary they were helpless. Really brought your ego down a few notches.

Soon it was lunch and Harry and Draco quickly ate so that they could get to the theory study for the admission test. It was fast approaching and Professor Reign told them that when they are not practicing they should be studying.

The days were filled with studying and practice. The admissions exam was fast approaching and Harry didn't have any time at all to sneak into Snape's office to look at the book he found. He still had a week before the test and Harry had made up his mind that if he hasn't read the book by then he'll somehow have to lift it and take it with him to Montague's. If Professor Snape ever found out he'd probably kill him but that book could be the key to the attack.

One thing he learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts was that vampires always attacked for a reason. This Charlie girl may hold the answers to it all. A few days ago Harry read in the newspaper that there was an uprising of vampire attacks in the UK. This was particularly peculiar because vampires were like a civilization of their own. They had their own rules and their own government. And there was severe punishment for unauthorized killing of humans. This could mean a war with the vampires and this was not good because if they had Voldemort _and _vampires to worry about the Wizarding race was at an end as we know it.

The answers to all of Harry's questions lay in the contents of that book and with the mysterious girl who was writing him letters. And since he couldn't contact the girl the only other thing to do was snag the book.

So after the days' practice Harry snuck into the dungeons and waited for Professor Snape to leave. It took a while but finally he turned in for the night. All the lights were turned off and Harry couldn't see a thing. He was too scared of waking Snape to light his wand so he had to grope around for the book shelf and find the jar with the floating pig. There were lots of jars but Harry finally found the pig jar. Its contents seemed to be slightly glowing in the light from the doorway. He carefully moved them aside and reached for the book at the back of the shelf.

It wasn't there.

Harry's fingers felt around for the book but there was nothing on the shelf save for a few pieces of lint and the jars on either side. A bolt of panic ran through Harry's chest. Had Snape found out that Harry had read the book? No, that was impossible. He had put it back exactly where he had found it.

Harry looked around and then saw it lying on the desk. It was directly in front of Snape's bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. Harry took a deep breath and inched towards the desk. A sliver of light came from the bedroom and Harry gasped when it was suddenly covered by shadow.

He quickly jumped behind a shelf and waited for Snape to come out. The door creaked open as Professor Snape walked out and went to his desk. He snapped the vampire book shut and walked to the pig jar. Harry held his breath as the sinister Potions Master walked past him, his long cloak billowing out behind him. He replaced the book in its place and walked back to his bedroom, this time closing his door all the way.

Harry waited a full five minutes before moving out from behind the shelf and running to the pig jar. He quickly shoved it aside and grabbed the book, not worrying about any jinxes or spells put upon it. He ran out of the room, his heart racing.

Finally in his rooms, Harry locked all the doors, the bathroom and the front door, to keep Draco Malfoy out. Not that he ever came to visit, but Harry really didn't need Malfoy accidentally finding out that he stole Snape's book. It was already ten to twelve and Harry had a full days practice tomorrow. He read a few pages of the introduction and then put the large book at the bottom of his trunk, wrapped in a pair of robes from the year before.

The next week went by in a blur. Harry's days were filled with practices and when he wasn't practicing, he was in the library studying for the written part of the test. It was the day before the test and Harry's nerves were on the point of breaking. He was so anxious to pass the test that he had no time at all to read Snape's book during the week. It was still lying hidden at the bottom of his trunk, and Harry was amazed that Professor Snape hasn't said a word to anyone that the book went missing. There was definitely something important in that book, some secret that Snape was keeping hidden from everyone. He wouldn't want to draw attention to it so he hasn't told anyone that the book is missing, but that didn't mean that he wasn't looking for it himself.

Harry and Draco were woken this morning by the sound of Professor Reign's voice.

"Rise and shine boys," she said entering Harry's room, her Canadian accent strong. "The test is today and we need to get a move on."

"Where are we going?" Draco said from the bathroom. Harry sat up from his bed; thankfully he was wearing respectable Pajama's that morning.

"We are headed towards the capital of your little island." Professor Reign said sarcastically.

"England is _not_ an island." Draco said back.

"London?" Harry said, still sleepy. It was only five in the morning.

"Good job Potter!" Draco said sarcastically, "You know the capital of England!"

Harry shot him a glare but Malfoy just smirked.

Draco was wearing green cotton Pajama bottoms and nothing else. His chest was the same alabaster pale as his face and Harry could see a light blonde trail of hair going down his navel and disappearing into his pants.

Harry diverted his attention before Malfoy realized that he was admiring his chest and got out of bed.

"When do we leave?" Harry asked.

"You have five minutes to get dressed. I hope everything is in your trunk." Professor Reign replied.

"Yup." Harry said.

Draco turned back to the bathroom and picked up his toothbrush. He began to brush and ignored Harry as he came in and picked up his own orange toothbrush. The next minute was blissfully silent as the two boys vigorously brushed their teeth. Draco was staring at Harry and Harry was blatantly ignoring him.

Draco then spit the toothpaste into the sink and kept brushing; Harry did the same, making a trail of blue toothpaste in the sink. Draco stared at it and spit again, adding to the trail. Harry smiled, and then spit again. Draco now looked over at him and began to laugh.

Harry turned on the tap and rinsed out his mouth.

"Very funny." he said sarcastically.

Draco rinsed his mouth out as well and stared at Harry.

"You started it." he said childishly. "Bloody spitting contest."

Harry smiled and shook his head. He went back into his room to get dressed and pack the remaining junk into his trunk. They would be taking the Hogwarts express to London to spend the night, and then take the test the following morning. Since Professor Reign was so convinced that they would pass, they were taking their entire luggage as well. Harry picked a pair of baggy back jeans and a green t-shirt out of his trunk and threw his remaining knickknacks into the trunk and locked it.

He grabbed his oversized jacket from the back of a chair and went to go find Professor Reign. She was in the Entrance Hall waiting for him and Draco.

"Is your trunk in your room?" she asked.

"Yep." Harry replied.

"OK, that's going to be taken care of by the house elves."

"Good, because it's damn heavy."

Professor Reign smiled at Harry and then turned to look up the stairs.

"Draco, good of you to join us." she said.

Draco just nodded and walked past them to the doors.

The walk to the train was short and uneventful. They waited a few minutes for the train and when it finally came, the house elves had arrived with their luggage. Draco had twice the amount of Harry. Professor Reign just looked at them, her eyes twinkling in a very Dumbledore-like fashion.

"OK, boys, let's go." she said.

During the train ride Professor Reign told them more about Montague's: the different classes and professors, and the clubs and other extra-curricular activities.

"By the way, if you want to earn some extra cash you'll have to get a job. There's plenty of work in the village and you get special permission to go down if you have a job. Most of our kids work as aids in some of the boutiques." Professor Reign said.

Harry was interested but Draco looked out the window with contempt. His choice to go to Montague's meant that he cut all ties with his father. He could say good-bye to his inheritance as well. This means that he would have to get a job and actually _work_ for money. Everything came with a price. Draco closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cool glass, thinking of his father and mother.

His father was currently residing in a jail cell in Azkaban, but no doubt that the moment Voldemort freed him he would come looking for Draco. He hated his father with a passion, but at the same time was scared shitless of him. His father had power unknown to the government and even Dumbledore. If he ever found out that Draco left, he would come searching for him and he wouldn't stop at any means to get to his son.

On the other hand was his poor mother. Draco always wondered how in hell she could have stayed with Lucius for all these years. Divorce was unacceptable in the Black family and so she was stuck with him until death do they part. And Draco feared that someday death would part them, except it wouldn't be Lucius's death. Draco once asked his mother why she married Lucius and she told him that he wasn't always like this. When they got married he was a wonderful person, always loving and never violent. But after the birth of his son he changed. He became interested in the Dark Arts and joined up with Voldemort, he became a violent man who killed and hurt people for pleasure.

It's been too many nights that Draco went to bed beaten and bruised and listening to the sound of his mother pleading with his father. Too many nights were spent falling asleep in tears because of the pain and aches on his body.

And the scars on the inside never healed. Every summer until September Draco would pray to get back to school, where his father couldn't get to him. And every summer he would dread the thought of going back home.

"Draco? Are you OK?" said the distant voice of Professor Reign. Draco was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of her voice and noticed that his eyes were slightly damp. Harry was thankfully not in the compartment and Draco sniffed and turned to look at his future headmistress.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about my parents…" he said.

"You're going to miss them, eh?" she said softly.

Draco sniffed again and wiped his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but then Harry thankfully came in.

"I got sandwiches for all of us." he said, handing Draco and Professor Reign a wrapped sandwich and a bottle of butterbeer.

"Thank you, Raven." Professor Reign said, still looking at Draco. He just sniffed again and nodded at Harry.

"Am I going to have to call you Raven now too?" Draco asked.

"If you don't mind, please." Harry said politely. Draco rolled his eyes and took a bite of his sandwich. It was turkey.

It was now dark outside the window and the train was slowing down. Draco could see platform 9 3/4 in the distance. He took the last sip of his butterbeer and got his jacket from the seat next to him. Harry and Professor Reign got their things together as well and went down the corridor to get to the exits.

"We have a driver who will help us with the luggage." Professor Reign said. "We'll stay in a cheap motel for the night and then get going in the morning."

The train jolted to a stop and Harry was thrown into Draco, forcing them both to fall ungracefully to the ground. They were a tangled mess of arms and legs in the middle of the hall way. Professor Reign sighed and grabbed the back of Harry's jacket, heaving his to his feet. Draco just lay on the carpeted floor fuming.

"Potter, I know you want me, but this is a bit much don't you think?" he said.

Harry just rolled his eyes and offered his hand to the blonde. Draco looked at the hand with distrust and Harry was surprisingly reminded of his first ever train ride in which a hand had been offered to him. Draco seemed to be thinking the same thing because he got up by himself and sneered at Harry.

"It was an accident." Harry said.

"Right."

Harry sighed and jumped off the train onto the platform, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously to Draco like _impossible blonde. _

Draco jumped off after him and followed Harry through the barrier to King's Cross. Professor Reign followed them and led them to a waiting man in a blue uniform. He bowed to Professor Reign and went to the train to get the bags.

The boys followed their new headmistress to the awaiting car at the pick up/drop off zone at the station. They waited to be all packed in and by the time they left it was already starry outside.

The motel was a two bedroom, one bathroom pigsty but livable for a night. Draco was horrified at the green growth that had invaded the bathtub and silently swore never to be poor. There were two beds in one room one bed in the adjoining room. Professor Reign took the one bed and Draco and Harry took the remaining room.

"How is it that she can afford a driver and not a bloody hotel?" Draco asked.

"Maybe the driver was provided by the school?" Harry replied.

They fell asleep soon, awaiting the next day and the test that was to come.

Please review. :D


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